Luck of the Draw
by novaking2832
Summary: Ash Ketchum has, throughout his life, lived intentionally under the radar. Getting nothing above an A, never playing any sports, never getting any friends. He was, by definition, a loser. But when he scores a perfect on a worldwide test, the only perfect score ever recorded, he gains the attention of a lot of people, both good, and bad. M for swearing, and possibly some death.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, second story, let's see how this goes. I'm trying out a new style that a lot of other people use, we have a class called Writing Workshop at the end of every Tuesday that works on this stuff. Maybe it'll do me some good, or it won't, we'll see I guess. I'm hoping you all will enjoy this and with luck, I'll have some of my old reviewers and followers from my last story. Anyway, thanks for giving my story a chance and I hope you enjoy.**

**I'm only saying this once I don't own Pokemon or any of the ideas I'm using. This is also rated M for a reason, there's gong to be some violence and language, maybe some death.**

**Chapter 1: Havoc**

_"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is in front of them, glory and danger alike, and yet not withstanding, go out and meet it"_**  
><strong>

_-Thucydides_

* * *

><p><em>I had a dream last night. There was a boy who was running on an <em>_uphill slope. Behind him, shadows seemed to be chasing him up the hill, grasping at his legs and feet. His eyes held nothing but anger and determination, as he sprinted though. But I was not fooled, he needed my help._

* * *

><p><em>Don't Trust Anyone<em>

Everyday Ash woke up with that thought in his mind. That was Rule #1 in his Dad's list of rules. As Rule #1, it was most important of them all. Following it was easy, Ash's mind had been wired at this point to follow every rule that had been set out for him. But why? Why was this the most important rule of them all? And why did he have all these rules in the first place?

Ash rolled out of bed and stretched. He grabbed his Xtransceiver off his bedside table and checked the time 6:01. He strapped it around his wrist, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before mentally picturing his schedule for the day.

-Go out for a run

-Day forty-seven of sophomore year

-Workout

Okay. Lots of Novocain for his brain today, approximately seven hours worth. Taking another breath in, Ash ran a hand through his raven haired locks. No tests, no games, no stress clouding his head, a normal day today. _'So why do I feel like I'm facing a firing squad?'_

He raked over his schedule again, then a third time, and a fourth, but couldn't find a reason. He threw on a pair of sweat pants before opening his blinds, illuminating his room with the morning sun barely cresting over the horizon. One of Kalos's most beautiful assets: the greatest weather there is.

He looked at the mountains, cloaked with snow from a slightly early winter storm that had passed through the night before. With the sun behind them, the mountains seemed to be sharper and more "high-def". He turned his head at the sound of Pidgey making its morning calls from a branch just outside his window. It peered in at him, head tilted to one side, fearless and curious.

_'I'm fine. Everything is fine'_

So why did he feel this sense of impending doom? The aftereffect of a forgotten nightmare? A restless sleep he was all too familiar with? _'This storm brought more than snow' _he thought grimly

He shook the thoughts form his head, the more he think about it the farther away it seemed. He ran through his morning, saving the usual shower until after his run, before jumping his way down the stairs to the kitchen where his Mom sat, tending to her second cup of coffee with the newspaper spread out on the table. He took a quick glance at the paper, trying his best to memorize everything he saw before turning his attention back on his mother.

"Told you it would snow" he said

"Hmm, we can't all be psychic" she said, bringing her mug to her lips and taking a generous sip. She got out of her chair and wrapped his arms around him as he grabbed a power bar from the fridge. She never passed up the chance to give him a hug, not even in public, much to Ash's mortification.

"Long day?" she asked

"The usual, you?"

"Nothing horribly special, but I'll be out when you get back form your run" she said

"Okay, later Mom"

"Bye Ash, have a good day. Love you always and forever"

"Love you too" he said, no shame in his voice

Later, and not much later, he'd wish that he would've stopped, gone back, and held her, and never let go.

He jogged down the front steps and shook out his legs, taking the first breath of the crisp, cold morning air before healing the frosty billow, ready to run. This was one of his favorite times of the day... then the feeling of dread came over him once again.

#18: START EACH DAY THINKING IT'S GOING TO BE A GOOD ONE. EVEN IF IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE IT, SAYING IT OUT LOUD MAKES IT MORE LIKELY THAT YOU WILL

He repeated the phrase in his head, _'It's going to be a good day, it's going to be a good day, it's going to be a good day' _

Right now, #18 seemed like the stupidest rule on Dad's list. He tried to blame it on the creak on his muscles from yesterday's workout, the restless night he just had, the low temperature and damp air, but still felt it was that morning dread. _'I'm just bent out of shape today, once I'm on the road I'll be fine'_

#19: IF #18 DOESN'T WORK, COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Ash hit the stopwatch on his Xtransceiver and began his steady trot. Blessings huh? Let's start out with Mom and Dad. Most kids complained about their parents, but Ash never did. He was extremely lucky to have the parents he did. They were smart, fair, and honest, not like those who preached about values before going against the very words they just said. His parents cared about how he felt, always considered his point of view, but never rolled over when he tried to test the limits. Their ruled were clear, balanced, and protective, not overbearing.

Then there were the weird things about them. They were odd and secretive, almost broke of cash, and moved to a new region ever year, taking him along with them. It made it impossible to make friends or feel connected to one of his "homes".

_'Count your blessings, worked like a charm' _Ash thought dryly

At this point he was at the halfway point in his run. His endorphins perked his nervous system and kept this blood pumping. Having little else to do, he opened his senses to the world around him, just like he was taught. He took in the tang of wild sage and the musty smell of crops from the orchards lining the streets a few blocks away. A dog barked, a car started, and he caught a glimpse of the ocean view Ambrette permitted.

Ash cruised towards his house, passing the ranch-like houses that seemed to group together the further he got. He liked Ambrette, it was comfortable and easy, a refuge for even the strangest of families.

Ash knew his family would soon move from the the quant town, but preferred to not think about it. He had learned long ago to never get attached to places or people.

A black sedan drove by the street ahead of him, tinted windows on the side. It slowed around the area and drove lazily throughout the streets. _'They're looking for an address they can't find' _Ash thought before getting interrupted by a message form his Dad that illuminated: HOW'S YOUR TIME?

Ash couldn't help but grin, his father always somehow manage to hit the caps-lock button. Ash texted back: Two miles in under twenty-one minutes. How's Saffron? How's the conference going?

He could text while running, hell, he could text while riding a bike down a flight of stairs. As Ash reached the stairs he reset his Xtransceiver and checked his pulse, it was no different from when he breathed normally. Just as he pushed the door to his house open, he heard the rasp of rubber against pavement. The black sedan, shrouded by exhaust, throttle rumbling in idle, stationed just across the street. A late model four-door, possibly a Ram, no logos, trim, or identifying marks. There was no front license plate, causing an eyebrow to raise on Ash's head.

But he turned back and went inside his house, ignoring it as he had most of things this morning. He went into the bathroom and took a quick shower before stepping out and looking in the mirror.

At first glance Ash was unnoticeable, just another face in the crowd. But if you really looked at him, you'd be surpassed at what you saw. The most eye widening feature would be his mismatched eyes. One was a deep brown that seemed to hold a sort of malicious glint to it, the other was a glowing blue that held the depths of his unknown power.

That's right, Ash Ketchum had powers, the cost resulted in his blue eye, which hadn't always been blue. it had turned blue when he was three, fortunately it was a few days before they were moving so no one raised any questions. Ash had the strange ability to create fields. Not physical, well, yeah, he could create a barrier in front of someone so they could smack into it, but it couldn't be big and the one time he did it, his parents reprimanded him for it and contemplated moving from the town despite the fact that he did it in their home. He could create a field and post an image on it that could fool others to believe a knife they had just put way was still on the counter, or a pan they had just washed was still dirty.

When his parents first discovered this they encouraged him to play pranks around the house, making a spoon appear more to the right than it was, or changing the time to appear like it was two hours ahead, but after a year, and the eventual and inevitable move, they told him to stop, and he had yet to do it since. He had heard them one night though, his father mentioned something about it stemming from that of an aura flower

His raven locks were wild and untamed, yet still took form. For a while he had two tufts that seems to stick out from his head, but after a while his father got them trimmed, leaving only a few bangs hanging around his eyes.

He had powerful muscles that rippled under bronze skin, despite his rather slow run time and the lower number of pounds he lifted at the gym. He was strong and lean, his muscles flexing and straining with undeniable power, yet never used to their fullest. But it was all in accordance to Rule #4: NEVER LET YOUR TRUE ABILITIES SHINE

He entered his room once again and put on a pair of loose jeans and a black t-shirt before covering it with his regular black and red zip-up hoodie, the words RANGERS printed on the right bicep. He slipped on a black and grey, single-strap backpack before tying the laces of his running shoes. Checking his Xtransceiver for a reply form his father, he stepped outside of his house and locked to the door behind him and turned around, walking out to the street, and facing the black sedan, still idling across the street.

He couldn't see anyone behind the tinted glass, something he immediately recognized as illegal, but he knew someone was inside, looking at him. He narrowed his eyes, honing his senses again. Sounds faded, time stopped.

He felt a small vibration come from his wrist, breaking the silence. Another text from Dad: RUN, ASH

Without looking up, Ash slipped the hoodie over his head and waved an apology to the windshield, discreetly taking a picture with his Xtransceiver before casually breaking into stride. _'Make it look like you're going on a run to school, not running away' _Ash thought_ 'And don't look back'_

He trotted along, listening the engine hum with strain as it turned off and peeled away.

He swore he heard someone say "Fits description. Possible visual contact"

Ash's heart thumped against his chest, with his condition he had a resting pulse of fifty-two, never in his life had he hit triple digits and right now it felt north of a hundred. First question: '_Did Dad tell me to run from the car, or does he want me to keep up a pace? Maybe he-'_

He heard the sedan a block away, stomping through the gearbox, accelerating rapidly. Tires screamed, they were coming back.

Ash cut into an unpaved alley. Behind him, the sedan burst back onto the street he'd just left. He hopped a fence just as they car began to pass the alley and ran through a backyard littered with toys and Halloween decorations. He vaulted another chain-link fence into a narrow concrete alley along the side of the house.

The second he touched down on the other side, the head of a Houndoom poked it way through a dog door and sprinted towards him. He leaped onto the gate at the end of the alley and scrambled over, just avoiding the snapping jaws of the Pokemon.

Ah yes, Pokemon. They were not necessarily rare, but they weren't all too common either. You'd see a flock of Pidgey here and there, a few pets, maybe the remains of a meal in the woods, but other than that, nothing. Not to mention the Pokemon that you saw, were typically the only ones you saw. If you were lucky, you'd have five different Pokemon in your town, and that's if you were lucky. Most people just had a Houdoom, a Pidgey, an Oddish, and some others.

Half a block away, Ash heard the yowl of the tires as the car raced to the next corner. He peeked his head around the hedge at the corner and sprinted across the street when he saw it was all clear. He raced towards a wooden fence raised six feet into the air. He adjusted his steps and pushed himself off the ground, almost running on the side of the house before clearing the top of the fence.

Landing lightly in another alley, he looked up to see a started woman juggling her keys to a Volvo. She leaped back like she'd just been tasered, her coffee mug hitting the ground and rolling little, leaking her morning latte.

"Sorry" Ash said as he raced past her, jumping into another alley and raced through two more yards, conscious of the fact that the sedan was rumbling somewhere nearby all the while. He paused against the side of a garage and as he adrenaline began to diminish, he felt a ridiculous. His head and his instincts fought and argued in his head,

_'You're perfectly safe'. _NO, YOU'RE IN DANGER. _'It's just a random car'. _YOU HEARD WHAT THEY SAID. PAY ATTENTION YOU MORON

He felt his wrist shake again, showing another text from Dad on the screen: DON'T STOP ASH

He motored down the open streets through the outskirts of the business district. He'd get to the school, go to the bathroom and call his Dad, but he realized that he didn't need to, he had everything his father could tell him already.

#7: WHEN THERE'S TROUBLE, THINK AND ACT DECISIVELY

He pulled up behind a church and peeked around, the school was just a few blocks away. He checked the time and his jaw dropped, there was no way that could be right: He'd just covered the 2.4 miles from home, racing through backyards and alleyways in under _five minutes_.

Behind him, the snarling engine roared to life. He turned and saw the black car charging straight at him. He broke for the school, the sedan cornered hard behind him, swung around, and skidded to a halt.

Ash was already two blocks away. He flipped down his hood as he round the corner to the school gates where all the kids had gathered.

"Check this out dude" said Thomas Cyre

A tricked-out hot rod sat at the curb. It was like nothing any of them had seen before, a matte black and blue Corvette Stingray slung long and low on a custom chassis, with a slanted front grille and wheels gleaming with chrome. Bumpers jammed out like the muscles of a body builder. The manifolds of a monster V-8 hurts out of the hood, oozing latent power. Blue steam punk lines, rafted with sharp, finely etched venting, lined the the body. A stranger's ride for sure, no local could have kept this hellacious wheels under wraps.

Ash felt eyes find him from behind a diner window across the street. They hit hard, like somebody was poking him in the chest, goading him into a fight. he looked up but couldn't see into the window, the sun had just crested the hills behind him, glaring off the glass.

"Don't touch my ride"

Will heard a low voice in his head and knew it came from whoever was watching. It was gravelly, spiky, and bristling with menace

"Don't touch it!" Ash snapped

Startled, Thomas snapped his hand away

Inside the sedan, the bald driver was shaking with excitement at this new discovery. He tabbed the picture of the boy and his family and brought up a new one that held a picture of the car. There was no doubt, this was the "Guardian's". The first sighting there had been in decades. Hands shaking, the man lifted his wrist mic and called it in, immediately getting revised action. This was a historic opportunity, the boy could wait.

His partner picked up the Ride Along canister and eased down his window before shooting it just to the right of the back tire.

Ash watched as something shot out of the window of the sedan, catching a bald man holding something akin to a tranquilizer gun. He waited till the sedan was out of sight before bring a hand to his wrist, preparing to send a text to his father. Then the diner door swung open. A massive pair of buckled, battered, black military boots etched with faded licks of flame stepped into view below the door.

_'Yeah, not taking any part of this guy either'_ Ash thought immediately before turning into the school

The driver swung himself over the Corvette door and started it up while the small piece of metal on the rode sprang to life and crawled up the side of the car. It crawled its way along the side of the car, heading towards the driver, sprouting and inch long spike from its snout and launched into the air towards the back of the driver's neck.

Just as he reached a corner, the driver swung the Corvette into a controlled skid. He tracked the airborne bug into his sights before extending a single finger and firing off a silent blue beam of energy. The bug puckered, fried, and crumbled to a blackened cinder on the road before blowing away as ash.

The driver calmly completed his 360-degree spin and kept going

Ash hustled through the halls and slipped into his seat a minute before the start of history class. He checked his message one last time. Nothing. Dad was out for a meeting, or on a run. Classmates trudged in with sleep depraved facing and a cranky demeanor. No one paid attention to him, no ever paid attention to him. Ash made sure of that. He had learned long ago to hide what he felt, giving everyone only a bland mask

Rule #38: IF STRANGERS KNOW WHAT YOU'RE FEELING, YOU GIVE THEM AN ADVANTAGE

Ash was the quiet kid at the back of the class, slumping forward to minimize his height. The way he dressed, the way he talked, the way he moved, it was all quiet, contained, invisible. Exactly the way his parents taught him.

Rule #3: NEVER DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELF

This was a crucial rule. Ash could outrun a Pidgeot using **Ariel Ace** if he wanted. But when he told his parents about his discovery, they, once again, bottled it up and told him to never outrun a person again.

Even though he hadn't even broken a sweat through the entire ordeal, there was still a punning baseline of worry in his chest. Dad's texts, their timing was just too perfect

Rule #16: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A COINCIDENCE

Mrs. Collins began her daily drone of the Pokemon wars and the mass genocide of various Pokemon that happened during it resulting in why there are so few today. Yesterday, it was why almost all Pokemon lost the ability to do type-moves. Personally, I found the annoying buzz of the intercom more interesting. I wasn't the only one, I saw multiple wake0up jolts as chins slipped off propped-up hands

The door opened, revealing the school psychologist. He made a quick exaggerated effort to not be noticed like a teenager trying to sneak out of the house. Ash remembered him vaguely, he conducted the survey he had to take to get into the school. Mr. Rorschach, he had a pear-shaped face, was tall, and had the fringe of a beard visible. He whispered to Mrs. Collins as the class stirred to life, grateful to be spared even a few seconds of her lecture.

The two scanned the class before their eyes landed on me "Ash Ketchum?" he asked with a slightly disturbed smile "Would you please come with me?"

Alarm shot through like a bullet. This was not good, this would definitely bring attention his way. "Bring your things" he said as I walked towards the door.

"What kind of tousle am I in?" Ash asked as they walked down the hallway

"Trouble? Oh, no, no, no, no. Everything's all good" he said with a grin

_'Oh my fucking god. Did he really just try to use slang?"_

"But I feel where you're coming from. It's all pretty awesome and amazing, you'll see" he said, offering a fist-bump

Ash was half tempted to smack his hand away and slap him across the face for the atrocity he just heard, but resigned to remain expressionless and gave Mr. Rorschach a fist-bump.

As they passed the counters outside the principal's office, the staff behind them sent Ash smiles and even a thumbs-up. _'Okay something's wrong. Something is horribly wrong'_

The principal jumped out of his office and pumped Ash's hand up and down, breathless and buoyant, as if Ash had just won the lottery. "Mr. Kethcum, come in, come in. Great to see you, how are you today?"

_'Okay close to panicking here'_

Mr. Briggs, the principal, wouldn't be able to to pick him out of a three kid line-up with Siamese twins. Ash always made a point to miss the school photo day. "Good" Ash said, deciding sort and concise was best given the current situation.

"Great! That's great" he said as he steered him into his office, closing the door behind them. A woman stood up from a chair in front of Briggs' desk and extended her hand. She was as tall as Ash, athletic and lithe, wearing a dark tailored suit. She had long black hair that was pulled into a crisp ponytail. A leather briefcase lay against the chair she had been sitting on only moments ago.

"Ash, this is Ms. Drasna" Briggs said

"Really nice to meet you, Ash" she said. Her grip was strong and her eyes hidden behind their lids by a never ending smile. He would've smiled at her reaction to his mismatched eyes had he not been extremely worried about what was going on

"Ms. Drasna is here with some extremely exciting news Ash" Briggs said

"You're a facts and numbers guy, aren't you Ash?"

"As opposed to..."

"A sucker who falls for every marketing deal and subliminal advertising designed to paralyze your conscious mind and shut down all rationality in your brain by stimulating its lower part"

Ash paused, choosing his words carefully "Depends on what's being sold"

Ms. Drasna smiled and picked up the leather briefcase. She slipped out a sleek black metallic laptop and set it Briggs' desk, opening it. The screen lit up with a waterfall of data that arranged artfully into animated graphs. Principal Briggs sat behind his desk "Ash, do you remember the standardization test you and your classmates took in September?" he asked

Ash nodded

"The test is conducted one every tenth grader in the world" Ms. Drasna said, pointing to a a graph on her computer "These are the worldwide averages collected over the last ten years" she punched a key; the image zoomed to the top of the graph "These are the top national scholars scores. the top two percent of the database" she punched another key and the image moved to a single red dot at the top of the graph. Alone

_'Oh shit'_

"This" she said "is you. One in, to be precise, 2.3567 billion" she cocked her head to the side and smiled sympathetically

Ash remained emotionless, his mask was one of his greatest weapons, and he'd be damned if he'd give it up that easily. _'How did this happen? I always make sure to get below an eighty-eight percent on all my tests'_

"Ash?"

He waved a hand, dismissing the worry. "Sorry, I'm just surprised"

"Perfectly understandable, we can go over the specifics if you'd like-" a buzzer on Briggs' console interrupted her and the door opened. Ash's mother walked in wearing a scarf around her neck and her big sunglasses. Ash looked for some indication of disappointment. he had screwed up big-time and completely blown his anonymity, but his mother just smiled at him. "Isn't it exciting?" she said "I came as soon as I got Ms. Drasna's call.

Something's wrong. Why is she wearing sunglasses indoors? Was she acting all excited for the benefit of the others in the room? She had to be furious with him. Will's wrist buzzed. It was a text from Dad: Congratulations son!

No caps-lock? Strange. Delia exchanged greetings with everyone in the room before Ms. Drasna took charge again "If you'd indulge me, Ash and if everyone would excuse us, i'd like to preform one other quick, simple test"

"What for?"

"Curiosity. When someone scores the only perfect one-hundred percent score on a worldwide test ever, scientific minds crave confirmation. What do you say?"

"What's the worst that could happen?" Ash said cautiously

She smiled another dazzling smile before leading him out the door and down the hall to an empty office with a small tale and two chairs. A black tablet computer the size of a two-inch square rested on the table. Ms. Drasna sat on one side and silently offered Ash the other. She tapped on the tablet as soon as he was seated and it powered up with a small hum. Using her fingers, she stretched the dimensions of the square, extending it to nearly the size of the table.

"May I ask what this is?" Ash asked curiously

"You may, but I'm not inclined to answer" she said playfully "Put your hands here please" the glowing outlines of a pair of hands appeared on the screen. Ash set his hands just inside the designated lines. The instant his hands are contact, the screen thrummed with energy. The lines grew brighter before fading away, leaving his hands on the cold metal surface.

"I'm going to ask you some questions. Feel free to answer any way you like. There are no wrong answers" Ms. Drasna said

"What if you ask me the wrong questions?"

She smiled at his question, but ignored it "What's your name?"

"Ash Riley Ketchum"

"Riley. That's you father's name?"

"Yes"

A pleasant heat washed over his hands for a moment before disappearing "How old are you Ash?"

"Sixteen"

"When's your birthday?"

_'Fuck'_. Another one of his parent's quirks. They never celebrated, nor told Ash his birthday. A swirling riot of colors erupted from under his hands before he could respond "Is this some sort of lie detector?"

"Would it make you more comfortable if it were?"

Is that a test question, or are you really asking me?"

"Does it make a difference to you?"

"You're failing at distracting me" Ash said suddenly, kicking up his defenses a notch.

She narrowed her eyes but smiled "What's your favorite color?"

"Cerulean Blue"

"Where were you born?"

"Kanto"

Shapes, obscure mathmatical symbols, or some archaic language he couldn't decipher swam around below him in complex patterns "What's your father's name?" Drasna asked

"Riley Ketchum"

"What does he do for a living?"

"He's a serial killer"

"Hmm" she said, chewing her lip "I think that might of been a lie"

"Really? What gave it away?"

"You can't fool the machine Ash".

_'So it can detect lies'_ Ash thought, storing the thought for later. "Fine, he's an academic researcher"

"What field?"

"Neurobiology"

What's you mother's name?"

"Delia Ketchum"

"What does she do?"

"She works as a doctor"

"Where is her family from?"

"Orre"

"Are your grandparents still living?"

"No"

"Did you know any of them?"

"No"

"Where else has your family lived since besides Kanto?"

"Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, the Orange Islands, Kanto, Unova"

"Why do your parent move around so much?"

_'Good Question'_ Ash thought "What is this really about?"

"Sorry for the mumbo jumbo, You'll understand eventually. Or you won't"

"Thanks for clearing that up. How'd I do on your test?"

"I don't know" she said, smiling like she had a secret "Why don't you ask the Mystic Eight Ball? She held up the black tablet in front of him. An image of an eight ball appeared on the screen. "Go ahead"

"Did I pass the test?"

Drasna gave the tablet a shake. The "eight ball" rolled and revealed a small window in the other side, a miniature white tile floated into view: "Looking Good"

"There you go" she said, sliding the tablet back into her bag. "I have one last question of my own, it has nothing to do with the test"

"Shoot"

"Aren't you bored to the edge of living death high school?"

"Yes ma'am"

She smiled "Let's go talk to Mom"

* * *

><p>I represent the most academically accomplished college preparatory academy in the world" said Drasna as she typed commands into her laptop "That you've never heard of"<p>

"Why haven't we heard of you?" asked Delia

"I'll address that in a moment Mrs. Ketchum, I think you'll appreciate the answer"

Drasna opened her laptop until it lay flat on Briggs' desk. A multidimensional image of a thick cloud cover projected into the air about three feet above the screen, like an impossibly detailed children's pop-up book. As they all watched, the point of view circled above the clouds and then descended into them. As the clouds thinned, a stately array of buildings on vast green lawns surrounded by thick woods appeared. They floated lower towards the incredibly realistic world before leveling off. They flew towards the campus above a long, straight entrance road lined with towering trees. They passed a gate and a guard house, the words: THE CENTER FOR INTEGRATED LEARNING engraved into the stone gate

"We're offering Ash a full scholarship, completely on merits. We'll include travel, living expenses, textbooks and supplies. This won't cost your family a penny" Drasna said

"Where's the school?" Ash asked

"In Hoenn, close to Mt. Pyre"

The simulation glided by classic ivy-covered stone halls connected by wide symmetrical walkways. Beyond the central campus, they passed over a massive retro-syle field house, an outdoor all-purpose stadium, stables and riding fields, a golf course, and fields for a variety of sports.

"What's the catch?" Ash asked, knowing nothing this good came free

"There's only one Ash, you have to want this. The Center opened it doors in 1915, you haven't heard of us because we value privacy. We never look for or encourage publicity, it's one of the ways in which we protect our students and our reputation. But I assure you that all the best colleges and universities know who we are, our graduate placement into those institutions has no equal. We have countless alumni that have gone on to be business and industry leader to Pokemon Champions and Elite Four members"

The tour continued over a large lake tucked into some nearby woods. Trees were ablaze with spectacular fall colors, a rustic boathouse sat on the shore. A tall, twisted gothic looking structure, almost a castle, occupied the center of the lake. Then the camera lifted itself back into the clouds and the image faded.

"No one applies to the Center, you have to be invited" She pulled an oversized packet from her briefcase and handed it to Delia "We think you'll find everything your family needs to know to make an informed decision in here. Take your time, we know you have a lot to think about"

Briggs chimed in "You can certainly be excused from class for the rest of the day to get started, Ash"

"I think that's a good idea" Ash said

"All of my contact information is in there, but here's my card just in case" she said, giving Ash a white business card with her contact information on it "As you go through the process, please don't hesitate to call with any questions or concerns you might have" she said, shaking Ash's hand before heading out

After a few minutes of predictable fawning from Briggs, Ash and Delia left the office. Drasna was right, he had a lot of things to think about, hundreds of questions piling up, but none were more troubling than the one that had snared his soul the moment his Mom walked through Briggs' door. He'd initially tried to dismiss it as an off-kilter head trip cooked up by the compounding weirdness of the day. But now that they were alone, it was worse.

He glanced at his mother, still wearing that smile and those sunglasses. She saw him look at her and gave his hand am excited little squeeze

_Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. _

Why did he feel like this wasn't the person he'd said goodbye to barely two hours ago? _'What's so different about her that makes me feel this way?'_. It was a subtle feeling, but it gripped him like a Seviper using **Wrap**.

"Well I just don't know what to say Ash" she said, hangs lightly gripping the steering wheel "I mean, this is the most amazing thing ever" It certainly sounded like Mom, but that is not what Mom would say. She would'd asked why he'd went against their instructions and drawn attention to himself.

#14: ASK ALL QUESTIONS IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE

"Are you alright?" he asked

"Just excited" she said "The principal called when I got to work and put Ms. Drasna on the line. I called Dad as soon as I hung up, he's leaving the conference and coming home tonight, he pretty jazzed up" Delia said

_'Dad would have a lot of reactions, but "jazzed up" would not be one of them'. _Although he kept it hidden, his terror increased when he saw a specific black sedan parked across the street from their house.

"We _do_ have a lot to talk about" Ash said, glancing at his "mother", catching a glimpse of her eyes for the first time. They looked, vacant, glassy even. Like a student zoning out during a lecture.

"You don't sound excited Ashy" Delia said

"Just trying to take things one step at a time" Ash said, trying to keep calm

#20: THERE MUST ALWAYS BE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EVIDENCE AND CONCLUSION

"You know, you're right, we need to take this slow and careful" she said, parking in their driveway. Ash quickly, but noticeably so, entered their house ahead of her before entering the house and sprinted upstairs, breaking yet another record today. Fighting to stay calm, he clung to what he knew: Open his senses, clear his mind, observe everything

#9: WATCH, LOOK, AND LISTEN, OR YOU WON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING

"Honey, I have to go back to work, but when your father gets here we'll all sit down and go over everything tonight okay? Delia said, calling up from the front door. He waited till he heard the smack of the front door closing before racing to the window and watching her drive off. She turned a corner, where he'd seen the black sedan and rolled down her window before disappearing out of sight

He raced downstairs to the living room, where he could see both cars, stopped beside each other, driver to driver.

_'She's talking to them'_

Ash locked the doors and tried calling his Dad, but only got his voicemail. Seconds later, his wrist began to shake, indicating a call.

"Dad? Dad?" he heard a hollow whistling before static, then silence. He hung up, not bothering to call. He needed to stay focused, ground himself in facts. Analize, arrange, manage, keep a orderly mind.

He took off his hoodie, letting cool air in and opened the packet to and paged through some forms before coming across a magazine-sized rectangle with the words "touch here" printed on it. He lightly tapped his finger on the area and was rewarded with more words appearing in a simple, elegant font

The Center for Integrated Learning

The school's crest took shape below it, a coat of arms, an ornate shield in navy blue and shining silver, divided into three horizontal sections, each with an image. On top, Arceus "held" a book and a sword, in the middle, Mew appeared, as if circling below the Arceus. On the bottom, a warrior of some sort, bearing a long brimmed hat that flipped up at one end and garbed in blue and black robes with a staff and a sword and a Lucario standing at his side had the tip of his blade pointed at a vanquished enemy lying on the ground. A scroll unfurled beneath the crest and the school motto appeared letter by letter: _Knowledge Is the Path, Wisdom Is the Purpose._

Photographs of campus filled the screen and quotes about the school's credentials and distinguished faculty roved across the surface. An audio track of students an faculty began playing, praising the glory and faming the experience they had there. A video began to play of students in a classroom listening to lectures and working on labs, hanging out in a coffee shop, a bowling alley, preforming plays and concerts, riding horses, playing dozens of different sports.

All their faces were bright and eager, they all wore clothes of the Center's colors, navy blue and grey. Voices began playing, talking about the stereotypical bullshit you'd expect in an advertising campaign "I made friends I instantly knew would be mine forever ... I gained confidence and a feeling of belonging that's stayed with me my whole life ... There are life changing opportunities at every corner" it took a lot of self control not to cringe... or throw up.

It was advertising to the fullest, weird how Ms. Drasna was taking about him not falling for mind-numbing advertisements the second she met and then hands him one not long afterwards.

The screen shifted to a video of the school choir singing in a candlelit jewel-box shaped chapel. The beauty of the song did not escape him, it was a slow, celestial melody that continued as the screen shifted to heart warming images of graduation. Parents embracing their kids, pride evident on their faces, this was supposed to be the closing deal, what was supposed to hook him into going to the school

They might have actually convinced him it was a perfect place to go... if it hadn't seemed too perfect. He opened up the web browser on his Xtransceiver and looked up the mailing address the Center had given and sure enough, it was all there, just as it had in Drasna's 3-D preview.

Ash's parents had no connection or money, they trained him to leave no traces, so he reigned in everything he did. He posed as a B to B- student while secretly studying in his room, learning far more than even a college student would know. He taught himself calculus and precalculus in under a month, that was during middle school.

It was all in accordance to Rule #3: NEVER DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELF

But now he had the attention of the best high school in the world, and they wanted him to join their prestigious ranks.

Ash glanced at the clock, just past twelve, Mom would be home form work soon. He made himself a sandwich, having no time to make himself something intricate, and wolfed it down as he prowled the house. He looked at their meager possessions, a small TV that only got eighteen different news networks and some foreign channel to which Ash basically self-taught himself the language. They never even used the TV, all they did with their free time was read. Shelves lined every wall, stacked with scientific, medical, legal, business, and historical texts. Ash had read all 417 books at the very least three times, if not more.

Rule #73: WITHOUT A LIFE OF THE MIND, YOU'LL HAVE A MINDLESS LIFE

He glanced at a picture of Delia and Riley on their wedding day, happy and smiling, full of laughter. Nothing compared the those almost soulless eyes he'd seen on his mother not long ago.

He heard a car door shut and peeked out the window. The black sedan had multiplied, three of them had stopped in front of his house with men in black jackets heading for his house, one was pointing and giving orders.

His chest tightened and time seemed to slow, RUN WILL. He fled out the back door, hopped the fence, and headed north. The Pidgey lifted off the fence and settled in a tree. Three hours till Dad came home, Dad will know what to do

He reached the trail beyond the last house at the end of the street and followed it up a slope to a locked gate at the base of the fire road. Slipping through the gap between posts, he headed up the fire road. The sun dipped low in the west, painting the slopes above him in vibrant crystalline light. The road ran flat along a ridge before grading up again, the sharp sunlight faded to dusk around him.

_What a shitty day. Ms. Drasna shows up after the black sedan, the guy with the Corvette, and then my soulless mother. but if there's a connection, and according to Rule #16 there had to be, so what is it?_

The test. That had to be it. It must've raised some red flags with some other people as well, not just the Center's. What if that had set in motion whatever happened to his mom?

Ash heard an odd noise, faint and scratchy. Something was moving through the underbrush near him, he heard branches cracking, it was a Rattata, they weren't uncommon around these hills. Then there was more shuffling off to the other side of the road, and it was louder.

Ash stopped, and so did the noise. He picked up his pace, and so did the noise. He stopped again, but this time the movement continued, on both sides, edging towards him. He heard a low, guttural snarl, and slowly bent down to pick up a branch on the side of the road. They were on either side of the path now, snarling and growling at him again.

_If these things cut off the route away, then the only way down from here is..._

Ash spun around and sprinted down the hill. An instant later, he heard them crash after him with a whooping yowl. Without breaking stride, Ash swing the branch and smacked one of his pursuers. The branch shattered against whatever it it hit, which snarled in pain.

While the swing did nothing, the impact broke his stride. He had to pivot to avoid falling, pushed himself off the ground, and kept his legs churning. Whatever he just hit was already back on him, and his partner was uncomfortably close. He felt something hot against his neck before something sharp sliced through his shirt and raked across his back. The spike of pain spurred him even faster down the winding road.

He saw sharp turn coming and planted his left turn to turn right, but he hit a patch of mud and skidded. He lost his balance and landed on his left side, before using his hand to push himself off the ground mid-tumble.

He regained his bearings and ran on, with a noticeable limp. He heard nauseating yelping noises coming from behind him, they weren't thirty yards away and closing fast. There was a quarter mile till the end of the path, there was no way he could make it before they caught him.

Farther down the road, the blinding headlights and deafening throttle hurtled towards him, torque screaming. Ash threw himself to the side of the road as it passed, the heat of the engine warping the air. His eyes could only make out the outline of the Corvette he seen outside the diner earlier and its hulking driver behind the wheel.

Flames erupted from the twin exhaust with a deafening roar. A wall of fire shot into the rod behind it, and right into the whatever was chasing Ash. Their howls turned into revolting yelps of pain, their writhing masses thrashing around, outlined in fire. Houndoom

The door to the passenger seat opened "Get in" growled the driver. Ash threw himself into the passenger seat as the driver gunned the Corvette down the road and reached the flats of the road. They weaved through sharp turns at what seemed like impossible speeds, the driver leaned back in his seat, relaxing. Then, in a strip of darkness, the Corvette skidded to a stop

"Out" the driver said

Ash leaped out of the car and backed away. The driver remained in shadow, motionlessly staring at him behind a pair of aviator shades.

"Why were there Houndoom chasing me?"

"Can't tell you"

"But-"

"Stow it, no matter how good you think you are, unless you want an early grave, don't be a moron"

"Sorry"

The driver leaned forward into the light and lowered his shades. He had fierce black brows above piercing and deadly blue eyes. He held up an index finger "That's one" the man said. Then he stomped on the gas and sped around a corner, the sounds of the engine quickly fading into the night.

Ash looked around. He was standing fifty feet from the back door of his house. Music drifted through an open window across the street and an old woman's voice backed by an old fashioned orchestration sang:

"If you go out in the woods tonight

You in for a big surprise...

If you go out in the woods tonight

You better go in disguise..."

* * *

><p>Ash peered around the side of his house, the black cars were gone. He hurried to the back door and entered silently. Someone was in the kitchen, he caught a whiff of his Mom's perfume and cookies. His mother was pacing back and forth, her cellphone to her ear, scratching her neck every now and again<p>

Then she spoke with a monotone voice he hardly recognized "He's not back ... I don't know where he went ... yes, I'll let you know if he ..." Ash back down the hall. But with his luck, he hit a creaky floorboard

"Ash? Are you home?"

_Fuck_

"Hi" he said, reopening the back door as if he'd just come in.

"Come to the kitchen, I made cookies!"

"One sec, I got mud on my shoes" he wanted to run again, but Dad would be home soon, but he just couldn't face her. He followed a faint trail of music to the living room. He pressed pause, ending the quiet play of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck". An odd song to be playing at night, but he was much more aquatinted with this type of music than most other kids

Rule #83: THERE'S A REASON THE CLASSICS ARE CLASSICS: THEY'RE CLASSIC

"Oatmeal cookie?" she asked, as she held out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. Ash stared at the milk, was it just him, or was the milk glowing slightly? "Where'd you go?" she asked

"For a run"

"Looks like you fell, did you hurt yourself?"

"I'm fine"

"Come help with dinner"

He followed her to the kitchen, trying not to limp. He broke off half the cookie and dumped it in the umbrella stand along with half the milk, then pretended to chew as he walked after her. She stood over the stove, tending pots, one of them pouring steam into the air

"How's the cookie?"

"Good" he said, raising the half of it that remained

"Did you look through the stuff from the school?" she'd emptied the packet on the table, the electronic brochure, a small pamphlet, and a stack of official forms and paperwork.

"Most of it"

"So what do you think?"

His Xtransceiver dinged on his wrist. A unfamiliar app popped up on his lock page, which was a picture of flickering green and red flames. A feather quill pen poised over an old-fashioned parchment. The title below read Universal Translator

"Seems pretty interesting"

"I'm a little worried over this whole boarding thing. I mean, when would we ever see you?" she stepped past him and reached to an upper held for pasta. Her hair parted for a moment and Ash caught a glimpse of a gnarled knob of flesh on the side of her neck just behind her left ear. It looked like an inflamed insect bite, and it was _twitching_

_What the fuck?_

As she turned back, Ash looked away, masking his fright. He gathered the contents form the table "Can I take a quick shower before dinner?"

"Twelve minutes" she said, looking at her wristwatch. She poured a whole box of spaghetti into the pot of boiling water, then shoved the tops in the water with a spoon. _'Mom always breaks the spaghetti in half before she drops it in the water' _

Ash walked out of the room and up the stairs, fighting the urge to sprint out of the house

Rule #1: TRUST NO ONE

He tossed the cookie out the back window and closed the door quietly. It had no lock, so he tilted his desk chair and wedged the top half under the knob. he started the stopwatch on his Xtransceiver. Eleven Minutes. He stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower so she'd hear the water moving through the pipes. He peeled off his shirt and checked the road rash on his hip. It was red and raw but nothing that wouldn't heal with two, three nights of rest. He cleaned it with a washcloth then splashed on hydrogen peroxide. The three scratches on his back looked nasty and inflamed, the middle of the three almost peaking his left shoulder and the lowest almost wrapping around his right hip. He poured peroxide on it, staring himself in his mismatched eyes as he felt the burn.

He moved to his bureau and got dressed in a black t-shirt and dressed himself in some black sweat pants. He tapped the new application on his Xtransceiver. A moment later the app opened into a black grey page, no menu or insructions on how to use it.

He slid the app to the side for later examination and logged into his email on his laptop. A new message was waiting from Dad that came at 8:18 that morning. He double clicked it, only a blank page opened, no text. But it carried an attachment. He clicked on it repeatedly but couldn't open it. Six minutes left.

Then he noticed the subject tag on the email: Translated. He opened a secondary tab and activated the app again after wirelessly sending the application to his laptop, this time, a pull-down menu appeared. On the menu, there were two options: Translate and Delete. He clicked translate. A video graphic pooped up along with the triangular "play" button. He clicked on the arrow and the video began to play.

A generic hotel room came into view, illuminated by the pale morning light.

"Ash"

A moment later Riley Ketchum sat down in front of the camera, presumably the built in camera on his laptop. Relief flooded through him at the sight of his father, but it didn't stick around. Dad's face was drenched in sweat, and there was a sense of urgency in his eyes. Dad looked terrified.

"Pay attention Ash, I'm in room 12-0-9 at the Hyatt Hotel. He held up the day's newspaper, showing the date. _Tuesday, November 16th._ The Dad held up his phone to the screen. 8:17 a.m.

Riley leaned in close to the camera and spoke in low, hushed tones "Son, I'm betting you're going to be able to open this: I've always put my money on you. From what's been happening, I won't have much time, and neither will you. I know how strange this sounds, but the first thing you have to know is that none of what's happening, or might happen, is your fault. We're responsible for this. And knowing that something we did would bring you pain and sorrow is the worst feeling you mom and I have ever known. We always hoped this day would never come and tired to prevent it, tired to prepare you for if it ever did. I hope you'll be able to forgive us for never telling you why-"

A startling _bang _rocked the screen. Ash recoiled along with his father. The camera shook as Riley looked to his left, something powerful had crashed through the door. He turned back to the lens, his eyes frantic

"Ash, we love you more than anything in life. Always and forever. Tell no one about this or our family, no matter who they are. These people will stop at nothing, Be the person I know you are, use my rules and everything we taught you, hold nothing back, do whatever you need to stay alive. I'll come for you, I don't know when, but I'll go through hell and back to find you-"

Another explosion shook the camera. The hotel room was immediately filled with a cloud of dust and debris. The image spun as the laptop flew threw the air before landing on the ground at an awkward angle. Ash could see the massive skyscraper in the background. Dark figures rushed into view, a hand reached to the keyboard, Dad's hand, he hit the key that attached the email and sent the email

The screen went dead

_Think, think. Start by asking the right questions: When did this happen? _Tuesday, December 16th 8:17 a.m. Every text after 8:17 was either coerced or sent by the men I saw in Dad's room. They have to be working with the people who've been chasing me all day.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ash saw movement in the back window. He grabbed a metal paperweight from his desk and pegged it at the window. It punched a hole throughout the glass and clipped something that spun and fluttered to the roof. He hurried to the window, lying on this singles outside, was the small Pidgey. It twitch once or twice, then lay still. He gathered the still-warm bird in his hands and brought it inside

A puff of smoke rose from the center of the bird's chest, giving off an acrid smell. He noticed a small seem on the grid's chest that the smoke leaked from. He grabbed his Swiss Army knife from the desk and opened the blade, pressing against the seem until it gave way. He pried the seem apart and found wires and circuits-"

There was a knock at his door "Ash, are you okay? I heard something break" Delia asked from just outside the door

"I dropped a glass, I'm just cleaning it up" he was motionless, waiting for her to try and open the door and raise hell when she found it barred.

She paused "As long as you're alright, dinner's ready"

He listened to her descending footsteps, then grabbed a towel from the bathroom and folded it around the bird. He heard and car outside and looked through the window to see a familiar set of headlights coming slowly down the street. Dad's car.

Ash firmed his resolve, they'd rehearsed the drill a hundred times: Two minutes to drop everything and run. Will threw a first-aid kit into his backpack, he dropped some clothes, his iPod, his sunglasses, his laptop, a book, and the bird in the towel. He grabbed his emergency money, a hundred and forty-three bucks, and stuffed his Swiss Army Knife in his pocket.

Rule #77: THE SWISS AMRY KNIFE DOESN'T AMOUNT TO MUCH, BUT NEVEE LEAVE HOME WITH IT

He added a worn notebook with a black marble cover, Dad's rule book. He stuffed Ms. Drasna's business card in his pocket after memorizing her number, he stuffed the packet into his backpack with his assort and zipped it shut.

Dad's Volvo rolled to a stop in front of the house, the passenger and back doors opened, and three men in black suits and caps with a red "R" on the right bicep stepped out. The driver's side door opened and Riley Ketchum stepped out. The Black Caps surrounded him as he looked up at the house.

_'Now the question is: Is that my Dad, or is he like Mom?_

One of the Black Caps shoved Riley towards the house. He turned around and pushed the man away, and that's when Ash knew he was still looking at his father. _'Whatever they did to Mom, they haven't done to him yet'_

As he heard the front door open, Ash slung the one strap of his backpack around his shoulder, ignoring the sting of pain from the scratches and swung over edge of the roof and lower himself to the ground. He landed silently, and avoided the windows as he moved. He figured he had three minutes till the Black Caps forced his door open.

He ran out the back gate and into the welcome cover of darkness. He started his stopwatch and ran toward town for the second time that day. No limits. Faster than this morning. Faster than ever.

Rule #5: STAY FOCUSED ON THE TASK AT HAND

They'd get into their cars and spread out to look for him. If they didn't find him, they'd notify the cops: Post and Amber Alert about a missing kid and you can roll out the army, navy, air force, marines, not just the local police. They might even set up road blocks. How long before that happened?

Half an hour at most. He might get out by then, but that was using the roads and if he stayed in the open, they'd eventually find him. But they had no idea who they were messing with. They had no idea how resourceful and determined Ash Ketchum could be.

He quickly punched in a number he memorized while running. She answered on the third ring "Lillian Drasna"

"Ms. Drasna, it's Ash Ketchum"

"Hello Ash, are you alright? You sound out of breath"

"Just out on a run"

Helps clear your head doesn't it?"

"Somedays more than others" Ash said

"How was the rest of your day?

"It was... uneventful. But you were right, I've had a lot to think about"

"So how can I help?"

"Are you out of Kalos already?"

"Yes I'm driving to the Center right now"

'_So much for that idea'_

How quickly do you think I could start"

"At the Center? Does that mean you're accepting?"

"Yes"

Ash reached the end of the road and turned down the slope toward town, picking up speed. "First Ash, let me say that I really pleased, and to properly answer your question, our next semester begins in January. We'd encourage you to transfer then"

"This is going to sound a little strange"

"Try me, Mr. Ketchum"

"I'd like to start tomorrow" he was met with silence for a moment "Told you it was going to sound strange"

"I've heard stranger, so you'd like to transfer effective immediately"

"Is it possible"

"Well, we have your transcripts and I assume your family is on board with this?"

"Couldn't wait to get me out of the house"

"So everything's signed and filled out?" The distant sound of a helicopter filed the night air, followed by sirens. Ash glanced down at the time, four minutes, that was fast. "You mentioned you'd pay my travel expenses?"

"Indeed I did"

"So if it's not too much trouble, could I catch a flight tonight"

She hesitated "Is everything alright on your side?"

Ash hesitated too "That needs to be part of the longer conversation you wanted us to have" he reached the edge of town in record time, skirting the north end of the business district and took a deep breath. Judging from her silence, she needed more convincing "You helped me today, you haloed me realize that I needed a really, really, really big change in my life. And you cam looking for _me_. What difference does it make if I start tomorrow or ten weeks from now?

"Ash, I don't know this is all..." she trailed off at the end

Time to bring out my trump card "By the way, that test in September? They gave us three hours to finish it, and I spent less then twenty minutes on it. And the truth is, I wasn't even trying. And what's up with the fingerprints an DNA scanning with your magic chalkboard? Mind telling me why the school needs that?"

"Is that what you think it was?"

"I don't care what it was. You want me there, and my answer is yes. I wouldn't be asking if I din't need this"

"Tell me _exactly_ what you need"

"A plane ticket from the closest airport that'll get me there, right now"

"I want ot help Ash, but I'm going to have to call the headmaster's office about this, can I call you back in five?"

"Yeah"

She ended the call. Ash stopped across from the local taxi office, ams all company the serviced Ambrette and ran shuttles to the airports. Their storefront was lit up but empty. After debating a little bit, Ash ran across the street and into the taxi company. An old fashioned bell jingled as he entered. A tall brown haired man with equally dark-tinged skin walked out of the back room. His company polo shirt had a name rage pinned into it: Brock

Brock looked him up and down "How's it going?"

Channeling his inner best, chess club nerd, Ash said "Good, good. So, uh, how much is it for a ride to the airport?"

"South side is forty, North side is twenty. Which one do you need?"

Ash held up his wrist, showing his Xtransceiver "I'm waiting to find out. Would it be okay if we left now and I told you which one not the way?"

"Sorry, but they're in opposite directions, it's got to be one or the other"

"But I'll know before we have to decide which way to turn"

"If it's south side, I just quoted you the four person price. I'm supposed to wait till I have a full cabin"

"I could pay you sixty-five" almost half of his entire reserve

"Wouldn't even pay for the gas"

"But my dad just got in a really bad accident so I need to get out of here tonight to go meet him in the hospital. I'm just waiting for my Mom to call me about which airport"

Brock looked skeptical "So where is your dad now?"

"Intensive care, in Slateport. That's wear it happened"

"Sorry man, that sucks" Ash pretended to bury his face in his sleeve and hide a tear, turning away a little.

"You know what, my boss is out of town tonight, so fuck company policy. We got to get you to the airport" Brock grabbed keys form under the counter and led the way to the door. Ash followed him outside, scanning the street for pursuers. Brock slid open the minivan's side door, allowing Ash to hop into the back seat. Brock climbed behind the wheel and fired up the engine.

"What's you name?"

"Ash Ketchum"

"Well Ash, trying to help your dad out while he's messed up in a different region, that's fucking awesome. I respect that" Brock said with a smile

"Thanks Brock" and now Ash felt like shit

As they headed out of town and into the highway, two police cars raced by, sirens wailing. "What the hell is going on? The police are everywhere. I brought myself up here to get away from this shit"

"Where'd you come from?"

"Kanto, Pewter City. Compare to that place, this is paradise. They shot a movie here and made it look like a slice of heaven"

"They based that movie off the book Lost Horizon. My Dad told me about it when we moved here, the movie's called the same thing"

"You think it's on DVD now?"

Ash felt his wrist vibrate with a familiar pattern "I'm here" he answered

"There's a flight from the south Ambrette airport going to Ever Grande City at eight forty-five. that's the only flight that's headed out of the region. Can you make it?"

"Yes"

"There's a ticket waiting under your name at the counter"

"Thank you"

"It gets in at eleven. We're working on getting you from Ever Grande to Mauville but that'll be taken care of by the time you reach the airport. We'll send a car and a driver to meet you at the baggage claim. And Ash, the headmaster an I both want to discuss this, in detail, when you arrive"

_I should be able to come up with something believable by then._ "Of course, I'll see you then"

"Drasna ended the call, but for Brock's benefit he added "Love you Mom, always and forever". _Disgustingly proud of myself right now_

"Where we headed?"

"South side, eight forty-five flight"

"Got you covered"

"Ash leaned back and took a deep breath. He was starving, almost shaking with exhaustion and stress, but he couldn't afford to take a break now. There was a small ping from his Xtransceiver: a new voicemail. He plugged in his earbuds and hit play.

"We're really worried about you, son. This sin't like you, running off like this. But it's okay, we're not mad or upset with you. If it's because of the new school, we would never force anything on you. Your uncle went away to a school and had a great experience, but it has to be up to you. Just let us know you're okay" the message ended. Ash didn't have an uncle. That means Dad was still Dad and he was telling him to keep running.

"Hey Ash, you hungry? I got some water and some snacks in the console"

"That'd be great" Brock handed back a bag of trail mix and a bottle of cold water. Ash scarfed it down and chased it with water. Just then, brake lights up ahead showed a slow in traffic. _'Road block'_

"Hey Ash, Highway Patrol's set up a checkpoint before the turn to south side, I don't know if that means anything to you"

Ash leaned forward, they were ten cars away from the three CHP cruiser turned sideways, blocking both lanes headed south.

"If we're going to make you flight we can't get caught up in this mess. On the floor behind you, see a black strap? Pull it up, hard. Then hop in"

Ash undid his seatbelt and grabbed the strap. The floor lifted on the first pull, revealing a storage well big enough to some suitcases, or him

Brock turned around and looked at him calmly "If I'm crazy and the cops aren't looking for you, then stay in you seat. I'm good either way" Brock said, noticing Ash's hesitation. Ash returned Brock's steady gaze and thought '_Can I trust you'_

"Yes"

"Excuse me?"

"You'll fit with enough room for your bag. What's your number?"

Ash told him before putting his backpack in the bottom of the well before curling around it. It was tight, but he just squeezed in. "Pull down the strap and hold it, mute your Xtransceiver and put in your earbuds. I'm going to give you updates as we go" Ash pulled the hatch down and disappeared into darkness. His Xtransceiver filled the well with a faint white light before showing he had an incoming call.

"Four cars to go, I'm going to put this on speaker" Brock said when Ash answered

He heard Brock set the phone on the center console and turn on the game. Ash slowed his breathing and reached out with his senses. He heard the window being rolled down before their car rolled forward and stopped. He heard footsteps, then an authoritative male voice

"Where are you headed tonight?"

"Pickup at the south side airport, Officer"

"Would you roll down your rear windows, please?"

He assmued Brcok nodded because he could feel the gears whirring beneath and the steady hum of the windows retracting into the doors. He heard something being rolled underneath the van. Probably a wheeled security inspection device with angled mirrors. "Are you carrying a spare tonight?"

"Always do"

"I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the car sir"

Ash tensed, expecting a hand to rip the well door open. but the silence was shattered by a sound that made his eyes widen. A raucous, unmuffled, familiar V-8 roaring up behind them on the highway. It accelerated wildly as it raced towards them. There was a pause before a massive shattering crash. The eninge growled away, past the checkpoint

The Highway Patrol officers yanked the mirror from under the van, shouting in their radios. moments later, the cruisers peeled out, sirens wailing. "Hang tight, we're on the move, but you should've seen it, that was fucking awesome"

"A Corvette Stingray jumped the roadblock?"

"The guy went fucking Evil Knievel on them. He shot, like ten feet into the air, over all three cruiser and sticks the landing on a fourth. Then he just keeps riding down the highway... Alright, you can come out now"

Ash pushed the hatch open and stretched out a kink, settling back into his seat.

"Did you see that Corvette before?"

"Earlier in town today, yeah" Ash heard a ding in his earbud and looked down at his phone

**GET AWAY. FAST. I'LL FIND YOU.**

It wasn't a text, nor an email. Just big letters, by themselves on the screen. The Corvette guy?

"Who was that guy?"

"No idea" Ash mumbled "Do you think they'll look for me at the airport?"

"They're going to be chasing that Corvette for a while, he's probably halfway to Lumiose by now, o run a drive through for a burger" they shared a chuckle.

"Is that Xtransceiver the latest model?"

"I think so"

"Alright, slide out the secondary screen, go into settings, and activate call protection. That'll keep you form being tracked"

Ash began to fight the urge to close his eyes, refusing to sleep at such a critical time. As they were turning into the airport, Brock turned to look at Ash "When you get inside, but some new clothes and buy a duffel bag to stuff your backpack in. Just get some touristy crap and make sure you look different. You should be fine from this point on, unless they already got your name in the TSA system. If they do, you're kind of fucked"

Ash began taking out his wallet to pay "Put that away, I don't want it"

"But I need to pay you, you're going to get in trouble because of me"

"I got it covered, besides I doubt I could get into any more trouble than hiding you in my car. I can just grab some people coming out and charge them double". They laughed again as Brock slid to the curb of a terminal.

"Why did you help me Brock? You could've gotten yourself in a lot of trouble for it"

He shrugged "Just, when you came in, I felt a voice telling me you were important, and that I needed to step up and be a man. Now you better call me when you get there and tell me how your Dad is doing, okay?"

"I promise. Tell Forest and all your siblings they should be proud of you"

"When did I tell you about my family?"

Ash shrugged. Truth is, Brock didn't. In fact, Ash didn't know how he knew. Whatever, there's been enough weird things going on for him to forget about it, for now

Rule #28: LET PEOPLE UNDERESTIMATE YOU. THAT WAY THEY'LL NEVER KNOW FOR SURE WHAT YOU'RE CAPABLE OF

Two minutes after Ash went inside and Brock left, a black sedan pulled to the curb

**Believe it or not I'm basing that Principal Briggs thing off my own personal experience. I fucking hate how impassive school faculty are towards their students until they do something noteworthy. Also, the mismatched eye thing will come into play later, but I also did it a little because I wanted to write how people would react. When I first took off my shirt in the locker room all the guys just stared. It was so funny. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and come on, 12,000 words for me is a lot, I'm kind of proud of myself right now. Leave whatever you feel like putting in the comments, I think I'm going to continue answering the reviews/questions at the beginning of each chapter. My schools hours will leave gaps in my response PMs which will annoy me. I hope you enjoyed and there will be more, I don't know when that'll be however. **

**-novaking2832**


	2. Chapter 2: Terror at 20,000 Feet

**So, yeah. Eventful week for me. We did some hard circuits yesterday in the blazing sun, and today we have family style dinner in the dining hall with our dorm-mates. To be honest I really don't like the food here, I have yet to eat a lunch here, so now I feel anorexic. But I do eat a hefty breakfast and dinner to compensate. But you guys don't want to hear about my life, let's get on with the chapter.**

**AdvancedLover: Hello again, thanks for being the first reviewer. You seem to have gotten everything down so far. I don't think you've missed any severely important parts. Also, Ash's daily routine is not that exerting. I made sure of it. Most people who run aim for a eight minute mile, having twenty minutes is not that good. the whole point of that was to show that he isn't good at sports.**

**BlackStarZX: Sorry mate, AdvancedLover got that title, but I'm happy I got someone for my old story. Actually, you are hardly going to see Pokemon in the story, I'm not even sure if I'm going to add Pikachu. I know, I know and I'm sorry for that. I'm trying to get back in the game here and it's tougher than I expected. The glass obviously. When someone looks like a Freddy Cougar victim or something out of an Edgar Allen Poe novel it tends to raise eyebrows. And I'm calling it "The Loser" because Ash is always going to make people believe is isn't good/smart/strong etc.**

**thor94: Sorry, I'll try to slow it down and straighten everything out. There are going to be a lot of unanswered questions for a long time though**

**Shadow'Blaze14: Thanks, I happy you enjoyed it. I'm happy to be back and writing. Not sure if it'll be like my last one though, schedule wise that is. Yeah, things took too long to kick off in my last story so i just decided to drop you into the thick of things.**

**Fallingarcher22: Great to have for my second story, I'm glad you could join me once again. Yeah, I'm verging way away from Ash taking on armies. I'm leaning more towards a disciplined Ash that knows what he's doing and how he needs to lead his life. I love the rules concept, I know why but I get excited whenever I'm typing out the next one.**

**Remisolleke****:**** Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying it**

**aboz567: Sorry if you're confused, but that's is how a lot of this story is going to be, answering questions Ash has. Because you won't know until he knows. Thanks, I hope you stick around for the end. **

**Chapter 2: Terror at 20,000 Feet**

_Mercilessness is the law of __nature, and rapidly and irresistibly we are drawn to our doom"_

_-Nikola Tesla_

* * *

><p><em>I started dreading sleep, or maybe I just couldn't wait to go to sleep again. I tossed and turned for hours before I eventually dropped off. I found myself in the night air, soaring through storm clouds, lit up by bolts of lightening cracking in the distance. I had no idea of where I was, but I knew where to find him. I knew where the bluebrown eyed boy was. I saw something small and dark sailing towards me, an airplane._

* * *

><p>As promised, Ash had a ticket waiting for him at the ticket counter. She'd also reserved a connecting flight to Mauville from Ever Grande. Ash showed the agent his passport and she handed over his barding pass without a question.<p>

He had stopped at a gift shop and bought a cheap black carry-on, a grey and black sweatshirt, and a baseball hat. He had gone into the men's restroom and changed into everything and stuffed his backpack and his old clothes into the new bag. He pulled on his hat, checked himself in the mirror, and walked out

The terminal was nearly deserted, but then again, he did have one of the last flights out. He showed his passport to the female TSA guard at the security entrance, receiving only a quick glance before she stamped his pass and waved him through. A stack of plastic trays waited beside a long stainless-steel table that fed a conveyor belt through the X-ray machine.

Ash stepped up and took off his sweatshirt, sneakers, hat, Xtransceiver, earbuds and put it in the plastic tray before slinging his bag on the conveyor belt with it. After pausing at the metal detector, he was waved forward. He stepped through without setting off any alarms and was pointed to the waiting area for your bags. He sat down and watched as his bag disappeared behind rubber blinds that led into the machine.

He glanced around the terminal and saw two men in black jackets walking towards security, looking around. They hadn't spotted him yet.

Ash's eyes widened in terror. _'The bird! My Swiss Army knife!'_. Time to bring out the powers. He started hard at the woman behind the monitor, trying to put one of his barriers on the screen or just shove the an image in her head. She stopped the belt in Ash's bags and leaned in for a closer look.

'_A stuffed animal and a toothbrush'_

Ash concentrated, silent and trembling, and pushed the pictures at her. He didn't know how, but he _felt _them work. The toothbrush and the stuffed animal replaced the Pidgey and the knife. A moment later, the attendant leaned back and advanced the conveyor belt.

Relieved, Ash turned around and came face to face with a big, pale TSA guard, who was eyeing him coldly. He asked for Ash's pass, which he examined and the looked at him sharply. Ash's neck bristled

"Wait over there" he said, pointing to a small metal bench with no back to rest your torso on.

Ash had just been kicked up to another level of scrutiny. They no doubt had his name on the watch list at this point. The guard walked with his pass, holding it like it was a live hand grenade, and walked into the maze of partitions. He showed a heavyset woman in a blue blazer. She glanced briefly at Ash, sharp eyes veiled with practical indifference, the pointed the guard to a nearby computer.

Ash glanced back, the men in black jackets were at security, looking at passengers. He turned back to the guard, preparing to use his ability again. The guard's already pale face was ghostly white by the flickering screen. He focused on right in front of the guards eyes. He felt his pulse slow, a wave of heat shoot up his spine, flow throughout his body, and rush up to his head with the image he wanted.

He "deleted" his name from the list and pushed in a new one in its place. _Gregory Taft._

The guard leaned in, as if not believing what he saw. In a panic, Ash pushed words at him. _The guy who cleared the checkpoint before the kid, you remember him_. The guard's head shot up above the partitions, swiveling around like the periscope of a submarine. His eyes hot past Ash and landed on the business man heading towards the gate, dragging his luggage behind him.

He spoke to the supervisor who took out a walkie-talkie and issued orders. The guard and some others went after the businessman, stopping only to give Ash his ticket back. Behind him, police officers stepped in front of the line of the metal detector. Ash strapped his Xtransceiver on his wrist and glanced behind him. The men in the black jackets were gone, did they see him?

Not taking any chances, Ash picked up his bag and walked away. Just as Ash rounded a corner, his knees buckled, his vision faded to spots, the room spun like he was about to black out. He dropped his back and stumbled into the men's room. He grabbed the sink, holding it with both hands, and splashed water on his face and neck, which were unnaturally hot to the touch.

He chuckled wryly to himself '_S__till got it, even if using it kicks my ass. Just another thing I'll have to work_ on'. He looked at himself in the mirror, noticing his blue eye faintly glowing. He leaned in closer to the mirror and even stretched his eyelid apart to get a better look, but the glow had faded. He shook his head and splashed himself with water again.

_'Now I'm seeing things'_

On unsteady feet, he made his way back into the terminal. His flight had already begun boarding; a line forming at the Jetway. He stepped onto the plane and found his seat two-thirds of the way back, window, right side, looking over the wing. He unzipped his carry-on and took out his earbuds, plugging them into his iPod. He considered checking for messages, but thought better of it.

Boarding didn't take long; the flight was pretty short, Kalos not being too far from Hoenn. The plane was less than half full, some business men in suits, some elderly, a few adults in civilian clothing, all of them preoccupied. Ash leaned back and closed his eyes, listening to the gentle hum of the turbines.

Rule #49: WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, JUST BREATHE

He turned up his favorite playlist, consisting mostly of John Dreamer and Ivan Torrent, two composers that he found brilliant. Listening to the orchestra work their magic, he relaxed his hand's death grip on the seat. Right now, he needed an uneventful flight to restore some sanity so he could face tomorrow.

He barely noticed the voice at first, it just hummed along with the music. With his state of mind, Ash just thought it was part of the soundtrack... until it spoke "Just breathe, nice and slow"

Ash's body tensed entirely too fast, he opened his eyes and looked around, spotting a two fingered salute ten rows ahead of him.

"Relax, stay in your seat, eyes closed, don't give us away"

_So much for an uneventful flight_

"Keep your cool and we'll be fine"

"Who the fuck are you?" Ash whispered "Why are you following me?"

"I can't hear you, it's kind of a one way thing until you figure it out on your end. Just sit tight"

Ash looked back down the aisle, the Corvette guy's seat was empty. At this point, Ash wasn't surprised.

One last passenger, a grotesquely overweight woman, dressed in a purple warm-up suit, wobbled down the aisle. With darting, beady eyes, she located her seat, four rows across the aisle form Ash. Panting from exertion as she plopped down.

A flight attendants voice came over the speakers, saying they were ready for departure and all electronics should be turned off. Reluctantly, Ash turned off his music and unplugged his earbuds. The plane rocked away form the gate and the cabin lights dimmed, Ash glanced at the Corvette man's seat, still not back.

The plane lurched forward, accelerating for takeoff, shaving Ash back against his seat with an exhilarating rush as it lifted in the air. The countryside soon faded into the distance, becoming unrecognizable spots of light. The plane banked over the ocean, then turned east. Welcome, but unexpected relief flooded through him, he escaped his pursuers, for the moment.

The moment the PA system came back online with the attendant saying it was okay to use electronics, Ash popped his earbuds back in and listened to the same song again. This time, there was no voice to greet him.

"Oi, you there?"

"You look like an idiot" the man said through Ash's earbuds

"I don't care. I am _this_ close, _this close__, _to a totally justifiable meltdown"

"Calm down, slide your seat back, and listen to your music, nice and easy"

Ash did as he was told and eased back into his reclined seat. The man leaned forward; he was sitting on seat to the left in the row behind him. "I hope you've shaken them off, otherwise this could be a pretty eventful flight, contrary to your wishes"

"Who are you?"

"Name's Aaron. From here on out, keep an eye open at all times. expect the worst, hope for the best. Once they got you in their crosshairs, they'll never let go of the trigger"

"So why are people and Pokemon chasing me?"

"Yeah, now's not the best time to talk about that"

"Why not?"

"Because fuck you"

"Okay then"

"Look, I just got sent on this job this morning. I haven't even had the time to read your file or why I need to be here"

"My file?"

Aaron took a small transparent glass cube form his jacket pocket. Inside, floated a pair of gleaming black cubes. They were the size of dice, and hung suspended in air, revolving at different angles and speeds. "That's my _file_?"

Lights beamed form the black cubes, and three dimensional images appeared above the large glass cube. An image of one of the men in black appeared along with a strange looking Houdoom. "This is all they sent after you so far, the Grunts and those bastard from the reverse World. So from here on out, you'd better believe I got your best interests at heart, or the mission could go south faster than a flock of Wingull flying from a new Ice Age. Given the resources they've committed, we have to assume that you're their target. That's why I led them away"

"So what category of a mission is this?"

"Escort and Protect. Just be happy the didn't get you with a Ride Along. Those things are a hell of their own"

"A Ride Along?"

"It's the thing in your mom's neck"

"Is-Is she alright?

"No way of knowing right now" Aaron said with surprising gentleness.

"Is my dad okay?"

"I'll try and find out. I need more information, and you need rest. Get food in your stomach, catch up on your Zs, if things get "eventful", the only thing you'll need is in that pouch in front of you. Keep an eye out"

Ash fished through the seat-back pocket and retrieved a small grey box. Inside he found a blue crucifix that was almost glowing. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this? There's hardly a devoted Christian out there anyway. It's all just people born into the religion"

The seat behind him was empty again

Ash turned on his music once again and hung the necklace around his neck. When the attendants rolled the beverage cart by, he took two bottles of water and drained them. he pulled the unfinished paperwork for the Center form his bag and filled it out. Then carefully forged his parent's signature's on the appropriate lines.

A jolt of turbulence shook him from his now completed work. He felt a presence to his right and turned, expecting to find Aaron. Instead he found the obese woman standing in the aisle, staring at him. A horrid stench reeked off of her, like she hadn't showered in weeks.

"Can I help you?"

She blinked and moved her lips, but no words came out. Another jolt rocked the plane, harder this time. She turned and shuffled down the aisle with a peculiar gait. Ash glanced around, no Aaron. Acting on instinct, he grasped the crucifix tightly and leaned into the aisle.

Suddenly, his vision seemed sharper and everything turned dark with blue figures and shapes here and there. He could see the gears and workings of the airplane through the floor, but he focused back on the woman. She had a glowing nimbus of light around her, sickly green. The outline of her body wiggled and squirmed like a bean-bag being tossed around, bulging at nauseating angles.

Ash took his hand off the crucifix, the woman looked normal again, or as close to normal as it could get with trying to fit her size into those purple warm-ups. She walked past her seat to the lavatory, opened the door, squeezed through it, and close it behind her

"Aaron?" Ash whispered

Nothing. Lightening flashed off in the distance, flaring a jagged skyline of ominous clouds. He glanced down at the time, they were less than an hour from their scheduled arrival in Ever Grande. A bell sounded, a flight attendant announced that the captain had turned on the seatbelt sign and everyone should return to their seats. Ash fastened his seatbelt and yanked it tight and leaned back into the aisle. Water, or some kind of fluid was seeping out from under the lavatory.

Ash threw off his belt and moved forward. The floor shook and trembled as he reached the door and planted his feet on the soaked carpet. The status panel read "open", so he gripped the knob and quickly pulled the door open.

Lying in a deflated pile, crumpled on the floor, were a woman's purple warm-ups. Fluids leaked out from the arms, legs, and neck. the right arm of the suit extended into the toilet, the same nauseating smell hung in the air. He saw motion inside the suit, a shape the size of a football slinked form the torso, down the arm, and out the open commode. The purple suit lay flat, then, in a single move, something yanked it down the hole and out of sight. Something fleshy went down with it, like the discarded skin of a Pokemon.

A flight attendant appeared behind Ash "Sir, you need to go back to your seat"

"I saw water coming out under the door"

She glanced down at the wet carpet underfoot "We'll take care of it, please go back to your seat, _now_"

Seeing no point in arguing, Ash worked his way down the aisle as the plane bucked and swayed. Ash glanced back and saw the attendant shut the door and head back to her station. He passed the fat woman's seat and discreetly grabbed her carry-on. He zipped it open, empty. It was a prop. Had that thing even been a person?

"What's you see?" Aaron asked. The man, now standing beside him, listened as Ash described what he's seen

"A Carrier. You have the luck off the Little Bastard. They snuck a Carrier on board" Aaron said

Another flash of lightening, closer, brighter, drew Ash's attention to the window. Sparks spit out the form the rear engine below the right wing. He turned back to Aaron, but he was gone. Ash reached up and grasped the crucifix once again and turned to the window.

After his shock wore off, he counted six of them. They looked like strange Rattatas that had been dragged form the see.

"_Was this what the Carrier was carrying_?"

Squat, repulsive, rubbery plugs of flesh. Bushel-basket mouths with razor sharp teeth. A line shot down from the snout to the bottom of the tail, which was supposed to be white, was now a sickly green. Four sickly legs, armed with sharp talons, sprouted from their torsos. These creatures, Pokemon, Rattatas, whatever they were, they were built for pure destruction, which was exactly what they were trying to do to the plane's engine.

Ash let go of they crucifix, he saw nothing but a sparking engine and empty wings. He held the crucifix again and saw the awful swarm again. _This doesn't make sense, Pokemon aren't invisible, and they certainly can't turn into humans._ _And why can I only see them when I'm holding the necklace?_. He took the necklace off and wrapped the chain around his knuckles, like a fighter would with brass knuckles and held the crucifix in his palm.

He saw all six Rattatas attacking the engine in a housing frenzy, hammering away at it with tooth and claw. The plane entered another pocket of turbulence and almost lifted Ash out of his seat. He fastened his seatbelt and examined their feet, noticing small metal piercing going through them. _"that must be how they're sticking to the wing of the plane. Magnetism? Hooks? An air vacuum? Wait, were those Houndoom like this? I only saw they're outlines when they got incinerated, I never got a good look at them. But they weren't invisible. Maybe they can only do it to a certain size? Where do they come from? Didn't Aaron mention something about the Reverse World?_

The plane jolted and Ash momentarily let go of the crucifix. One of the Rattatas was pressed up against the side of the glass, staring at him with glowing red eyes. It pointed a talon at him, opened its mouth in an evil grin, and drew a finger along its throat. Then, it gripped both sides of the window and reared its head back, ready to bust through the glass with a **Headbutt**.

Something grabbed the thing from behind before it could strike. A hand closed around the creatures neck and yanked it away from the window. Aaron was outside, somehow standing on the wing. As the Rattata bucked furiously, Aaron squeezed its neck, breaking it, before tossing its limp body into the air and out of sight, its limbs flailing.

Aaron gave Ash a quick wave before drawing a side-arm from under his jacket, a customized pistol. He walked farther out onto the wing, somehow unaffected by the altitude, wind, turbulence, temperature, and every other principle of physical science that should destroy anyone in these circumstances.

Anyone _human_

Aaron stopped halfway to the engine, raised the gun, and open fired on the swarm. Bursts of blue light shot from the barrel, ripping clean holes through the creatures. One after another, they fell into darkness. The last two Rattatas whipped around and launched themselves at Aaron like missiles. he fanned the hammer, killing one in midair, sending it tumbling into the void. The survivor landed on Aaron's right shoulder, scrambling around to the back of Aaron's neck.

Aaron, unable to reach, staggered to the front of the wing and grabbed the form edge of the wing. Struggling against the ferocious g-forces, Aaron lay flat against the wing, leaning into the wind like a ski jumper. The Rattata hung on desperately, unable to to strike, pinned by the crushing wind. Aaron turned 180 degrees until he face skywards. The Rattata clung to him, fighting the pull of the turbine below. Then, with a silent scream, it was sucked down into the whirling grill of the jet's turbine.

Aaron stood up and walked over to Ash's window. He peered at Ash, looking tires and annoyed. He held up to fingers and said something Ash couldn't hear. But the message was clear enough for anybody "That's _two_"

Aaron shook his head and walked down the wing, out of sight.

* * *

><p>They landed in Every Grande forty minutes later without further incident. No one said a word as they shuffles off, grateful to be touching the ground. Ash's flight had been delayed an hour due to the storm, but that gave him time to cover his tracks. He found another airline with a nearly empty midnight flight to Eterna City. He handed the tried ticket agent his boarding pass and pushed something into her mind, using his barriers to break through. He put in a picture of a pass to Eterna City, then another of his name on the passenger list.<p>

She checked him in and he wandered away. He did the same thing in reverse before boarding his flight to Mauville: the agent voided his name from the manifest. Getting into peoples heads using barriers was getting easier. Not much easier, but he didn't feel like collapsing this time. He boarded the plane and dropped himself in his seat. Still holding the necklace, he scanned the plane. All clear.

He unwrapped the chain form his hand and hung it form his neck again. With some luck, whoever was tracking him would think he was going to Eterna City. Ash just stared out the window for the entirety of the trip, not responding to anything until he felt the landing gears drop as they touched down in Mauville.

Ash entered an empty terminal before heading to baggage claim. An older, white haired gentleman held up a message board: Mr. Ketchum spelled in movable type. He spotted Ash gave a wave and started forward

"Is that you Ash?"

"Yes, sir"

"Dan Blaine, from the Center. I'm a college of Ms. Drasna. A genuine pleasure to meet you". Blaine locked eyes in a friendly, benevolent way. He stood six feet tall, upright and spry. His ruddy face looked as weathered as a man in his seventies, but he moved with energy of someone half that age. His handshake crushed Ash's hand, but after years of his Dad doing that to him, Ash learned to squeeze back.

Blaine smiled when he did "May I take your bag? Are you expecting any others?"

"No, sir, that's it" Ash said, handing over his bag

"Let's move along then, shall we? The car's just outside" Blaine gestured to the doors and took the lead. He walked with a noticeable limp, possibly a knee problem, but powered through it as if he considered physical pain a minor inconvenience. "How are you feeling?" Blaine asked, as if he really wanted to know "Rough night?"

"Does it show?"

"I'll wager most of your fellow passengers were business travelers, rushing form one meeting to another. At the risk of souring impudent, the red-eye has always symbolized for me how worship of money makes us behave with utter contempt for our own humanity"

Ash stared at him

"That may have sounded strange after a sleepless night on a plane"

"I understood you" Ash said "I just don't here people talk like that much"

"Plenty of folks in Kalos speak perfectly good English"

"Yeah but it's more along the lines of, the red eyed dude that blows chunks"

Blaine laughed agreeably. It was dark as they exited, a cold wall enveloped Ash, bypassing his sweat pants as if they weren't there. "You're in the grip of an early cold" Blaine said "You're not used to it in Kalos either?"

"Is it always like this?"

"No, no, no. For the next five months it's usually much worse"

A blue Ford Flex stood at the curb, the Center's coat of arms on its side. An immense man in a fur coat and matching hat popped open the rear gate and came towards the like a building on wheels. He wore a big, irresistible smile. He took Ash's bag and swung it into the back.

"Say hello to Brawly, Ash"

"Nice to meet you" Ash said. Brawly smiled broadly and cradled Ash's hand in both of his, felt like shaking a catcher's mitt. At least he didn't squeeze. He opened the rear door and gestures Ash inside. Ash hopped into the SUV's toasty interior, the seat felt plush and heated. Brawly moved to the driver's seat while Blaine climbed beside Ash.

"Feeling warmer now?" Blaine asked

"It's certainly an improvement"

"It's just coming up on six-fifteen. We have a two-and-a-half-hour drive ahead. I thought we'd have some breakfast on the way, Brawly. I believe a stop at Popski's in in order, don't you agree?"

"Popski's it is, sir"

Brawly guided the into the early morning traffic. Ash tried to relax in his seat, finding it rather difficult considering he didn't know if his ploy lured his pursuers away. At least Blaine's hospitality gave him some comfort. Which boded well

Rule #49: WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG, TREAT DISASTER AS A WAY TO WAKE UP

Half an hour later, they huddled in a red leather window booth in a stainless steel railroad car diner called Popski's. It sat a stone's throw from the interstate surrounded by 18-wheelers. A feats crowed the table in front of them, stacks of pancakes as thick as paperback novels, laden with melting butter and hot syrup, a platter of perfectly fried eggs and fat, pungent sausages, waffles so bug a toddler could have used them for snowshoes , smothered with plump blueberries, a pile of crisp, sizzling bacon, pitchers of fresh squeezed orange juice, and pots of strong black coffee.

Ash ate with a desperate craving, every bite tasted better than every version of these foods he'd ever eaten, as if Popski's was the place they invented breakfast and the rest were poorly imitated versions.

"This place is unbelievable" Ash said

"The legend of Popski's is known far and wide" Blaine said "to every wayfarer who travels these lonesome roads"

"It's said that a meal at Popski's and revive the dead" Brawly said, giving an astonishing belch immediately afterwards, giving them a good laugh. When Ash pushed his plate away, stuffed and satisfied, he felt as if he really had come back to life. Brawly paid the bill and Blaine led the way back to the car. Ash stopped to take in the beauty of the unfamiliar landscape. Flat, featureless grey-brown plains stretched to the horizon in every direction. It made Ambrette seem like a lush forest in comparison.

Withitn minutes they were back on the highway, heading east.

"Do you teach at the Center Mr. Blaine?"

"Thirty years now, World History. My favorite subject is the Aura Wars in the twelfth century. It's around the time when Jousting was invented. Do you play a sport?"

"Uh, Cross Country and Football" Ash lied. He never played a sport, his parents never let him.

"Ah, brilliant. Cross Country would give you the stamina to play any sport. We encourage our students to play as many sports as possible"

"Not really sure what to expect in that regard"

"Well Ash, it's a new day, my advice is that you make the most of it. I know it can be hard leaving home. I was fourteen when I first boarded. Filled me with uncertainty, and a fear of the unknown. This may sound odd but if you're able, don't push those feelings away. Embrace them. They're yours, part of you, they're here to teach you some of what you've come to learn"

"And what would that be?" Ash asked

"That's a question only you can answer. And probably not for some time"

They rode in silence. The landscape changing from the interstate to a two lane highway. The road began to ramble through gently rolling hills covered with hardwood forests. At a quarter past nine, they left the highway for local roads. Brawly executed a bewildering number of turns. Ash caught a glimpse of Mauville City. His senses sharped and he grasped his crucifix, the world seemed to open up to him. He could feel everyone in the city, one million-seven hundred-ninety-three thousand-four hundred-and twenty-seven souls resided in it. Don't ask him how he knew, he just did.

He trained his senses to the route ahead and his vision seemed to zoom forward along a wooded lane that eventually led to the schools the end of the tree-lined drive, they stopped in front of a traffic gate next to a stone guardhouse. A large man in a tan uniform stepped out and talked in a language Ash didn't understand.

"Ash, say hello to my cousin, Byron.

"Hey, how's it going Mr. Ketchum?" Byron said "Welcome to the Center"

Ash returned his wave and couldn't help but notice the automatic strapped to Byron belt. Byron raised the gate and let Brawly drive through. After cresting a short rise, they eased down toward a broad, bowl-shaped valley. Through the bare trees, Ash got his first glimpse of the Center for Integrated Learning. The photographs had not exaggerated it beauty, but it was even more magnificent in person.

"Straight to the Stone House, please, Brawly" Blaine said

They followed the road as it curved away from campus, past a broad gravel parking lot filled with cars, a fleet of SUVs, and school buses in silver and navy blue. Around the parking lot stood an assortment of smaller building bustling with activity, a vibrant, self supporting community.

"These houses are our infrastructure. Laundry, kitchens, communications, transportation, power plants, and so forth" Blaine said

They turned onto an unpaved lane that climbed through thick woods, until they passed a notch between converging ridges into an open clearing. Before them, and immense, board pillar stood fifty feet in the air. At the top of the structure stood a house crafted out of wood, stone, and steel, looking as if it had been grown natural on the top of the pillar.

"Welcome to the headmaster's house, also known as the Stone House" Blaine said, walking towards the rock

Ash followed him, past a steel staircase that curved around the column to the house above. the went under an arch carved in the rock and into a small foyer with an elevator. Blaine pressed a button and the doors chimed open. On the inside, a phrase was engraved above the door

NO STREAM RISES HIGHER THAN ITS SOURCE

The doors opened and they stepped into a reception area with concrete walls. A friendly white-haired woman waited to welcome them. She led them into an adjoining room. The dimensions of the space were enormous. The rectangular windows rose up to an arched cathedral ceiling, giving them breathtaking views of the countryside.

Ms. Drasna walked forward to greet them. She wore a black skirt and a crisp white blouse, black leggings, and knee-high black boots. She grabbed Ash's shoulders with both hands and gave him a searching look. "Are you alright?"

"Yes"

"I'm glad you're here"

Another man entered the from a door near the fireplace. He was tall, angular, with big hands and long, rangy arms. He wore blacks pants along with a long black boots and a blue coat with orange stripes going downy the zipper and the sides.

"This is our headmaster, Lance". He had an outdoorsman's face, board and tanned, and piercing brown eyes framed by a hull head of spiky carmine hair and appeared completely unconcerned with Ash's one blue eye, not that he knew Ash's real eye color anyway.

"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Ketchum". His voice was deep and agreeable

Rule #53: ALWAYS LOOK PEOPLE IN THE EYE. GIVE THEM A HANDSHAKE THEY'LL REMEMBER

They shook hands, Lance's were rough and strong, not a teacher's hands at all. There seemed nothing "academic" about the headmaster. He looked like he picked his teeth with a bowie knife and had the confidence of a five-star general.

"You'e had an interesting journey" he said, not a question, a statement

"That I have, sir"

Blaine headed for the door, a small wave to Ash before he left. Lance invited Ash to sit on a sofa near the fire, a tray of fresh fruit and rolls sat on a nearby table. Lance poured himself some coffee and sat down across from him.

"Did you finish the paperwork I gave you?" Drasna asked. Ash fished the papers out form his bag and handed them over. She paged them over, while Ash tried to ignore the desire to watch. Lance casually studied him. "To many cultures, including Mauville's, to _wish_ someone a safe journey is considered a curse" he said

"I'd say the last twenty-four hours have been... interesting"

Drasna looked up and gave Lance a nod: Everything's in order

"Would you like to share with us about it" he asked

TELL NO ONE

Ash wanted to honor Dad's warning, but he also felt like he word them some sort of an explanation.

Rule #66: THE BEST WAY TO LIE IS TO INCLUDE PART OF THE TRUTH

"My parents wanted me to come right away, today, because they thought I was in danger" Lance and Drasna exchanged a look of concern

"What kind of danger Ash?"

"Theu didn't exactly say, sir. But there were people looking for me yesterday, in our neighborhood, that we'd never seen before". This is coming way too easily. Am I just a good lier?

"Describe them to me"

"I didn't see them up close, but they were in black cars, with unmarked license plates"

"Do you know what they wanted?"

"No, sir"

"Was this before or after I saw you at your school?" Drasna asked

"I saw them once before, and thought nothing of it. It was mostly after"

"Did your parents contact the police?"

"They did" Ash said, as close to making a lie of the truth as he could manage "That was when I called you last night Ms. Drasna"

"So that was the reason for your urgency. Your parents though these people represented some kind of threat to you"

Ash nodded, hoping they wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"Have you spoken with your parents this morning?"

"Not yet, sir"

"You need to let them know you arrived safely, and I'm sure you'd like to know they're safe as well"

"I would, do you know why they're interested in me?"

"We don't, but we are not without resources here. I can investigate into this, if you'd like"

"Thank you, sir"

"I'm truly sorry you had to go through this. Hardly the ideal circumstances for your arrival. A new student's first day should be a much happier occasion. But first things first. You can use the phone in my office to call home, follow me"

Ms. Drasna stod as well, holding up Ash's paperwork "I'm going to expedite this and get your admission finalized" she said, heading to the office. Ash followed Lance into a smaller office next door. Heavy leather couches bracketed wagon-wheel tables in front of another blazing fireplace. A sustainable oak desk sat on a riser in form of a picture window. Two pictures of imposing men hung on either wall, facing each other. "My predecessors, Thomas Altross and his son, Riley Altross" he pointed to a phone on his desk I'll give you some privacy" Lance said before he stepped out

Ash wondered if anyone would monitor his call, probably not, but they'd at leafs have a log of what number he'd punched in and compare it to the ones he put on the application. He debate getting caught in a lie to if he could be tracked to the Center if he called home.

He punched in his home number. The phone rang twice before a bland male voice he didn't recognize answered "Ketchum residence. Ash started the stopwatch on his Xtransceiver. "Riley or Delia Ketchum please" Ash said, dropping his voice and octave.

"Who is this?"

"Who am I speaking with?"

"I'm a colleague of Mr. Ketchum's"

_Bullshit _"Can I tell them who's on the line?" the man asked

"Supervisor Mullins, Office of Familt services in Eterna City, Sinnoh" Ash said

"The man muffled the receiver and repeated that to someone in the room, and a moment later another hand took the phone "This is Delia Ketchum". Ash felt that same sick ambivalence when he heard her voice. It was her, but it wasn't _her_

"Mom it's me, don't say anything, just listen. I'm in Sinnoh-"

"They said Family Services, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, they're helping me. Is everything okay over there?"

"Ash, we're just worried sick about you"

"Who answered the phone?"

She hesitated slightly "Someone form your dad's office is helping us, Carl Stenson"

"Let me talk to Dad"

"He's sleeping right now"

"I'm going to Kanto, don't follow me or try to find me. I'll call in a few days" then he hung up

He hung up then called the main switchboard for the science department at the University of Saffron. A receptionist answered. "Hi, I work for the local newspaper, I'm trying to reach someone in your department. Carl Stenson, I think he works with Riley Ketchum"

"I'm sorry, we don't have anyone here with that name"

"You're sure?"

"Yes. Would you like to leave word for Mr. Ketchum? He's not in-" Ash had just started to hang up "-but the police were here earlier and I know they've spoken with him"

"That's what I'm calling about"

"You mean the break-in last night?"

"Yes, in Mr. Ketchum's office?" he heard a reluctant silence "This can be off the record if you'd like"

"All of Mr. Ketchum's work was taken. Files and two computers. They're going through everything right now to see what is missing"

"Do they have any idea who did it?"

"Not so far-"

Ash hung up. What was this all about? Stealing Dad's research, what could have been in there that could justify all this? He tapped in Brock's number.

He answered on the second ring "This is Brock"

"Brock, it's Ash, you drove me the airport last night?"

"Ash! how are you? Did you make it to Hoenn okay?"

"Yeah, just wanted to let you know"

"How's is you father?"

"He's better thanks, but I'm probably going to be here for a while and I've got kind of an odd situation. Could you do me a small favor?"

"Shoot"

"My Dad's worried someone's going to break into our house in Ambrette. I forgot to lock the door and the doctor says he shouldn't have any stress right now. Could you swing by and check so I can tell him everything's okay?" _I'm too good at lying. That's a bad thing_

"I'm all over it, what's you address?"

Ash told him "Alright, I'm going to check it out soon and get back to you as fast as I can"

Ash turned and saw Ms. Drasna in the doorway. He worried she'd overheard, but she was focused on something else "Got to go, check in with you later". He ended the call as Drasna approached him "I have to ask you about this before I bring it up with Lance. Did you really try to fail that test in September?"

"I didn't try to _fail. _I just didn't try to succeed"

"But your score was perfect. 100%. The only one in recorded history. People with photographic memories got less than than you. How could that have happened if you weren't trying?"

"I don't know"

"I suppose the bigger question is, _why_ would you do a thing like that?" she looked at him searchingly with genuine concern, so he told her the truth

"A rule my parents had"

"A rule?"

"Rule #3: never draw attention to yourself"

"Why would your parents want people to think your not as smart, exceptionally smart, as you actually are"

Ash shrugged. He never questioned it, and still didn't. "They explicitly told you to hold yourself back, with no explanations?"

"All they said was "We have our reasons", end of discussion"

"And after scoring off the charts you end up being followed"

"Yes"

"Then maybe there is cause for concern, But I can promos that your safe here. We have a lot of high profile families and we take security very seriously"

Before he could respond, Lance walked back in and sat at his desk "Did you contact your parents?"

"Yes"

Lance jotted something down in a notebook and handed the note to Drasna. She era fit without reaction as Lance put a hand on Ash's shoulder and and guided him to a door at the far end of his office. "I'm going to have to give the abridged version of the Headmaster's Address"

They entered through the door and into a narrow corridor sided with windows from floor to ceiling on with wall. Gusts of cold wind whistled through open windows along the top. "This is an observation deck that connects the house to the back of the Center. The architect wanted to make people feel not just suspended in space, but time as well. So he called this the Infinity Room"

They passed over thick windows embedded with planks, allowing him to see straight down where the parked cars looked like toys. Mr. Altross brought the students here to remind them to stay alert at all times"

_Just like Rule #6_

"He believed experiences create intense awareness tune the self to a higher state of consciousness, like a signal amplifier for the soul. An the best way to do that is to show them the reality of the situation, the danger. Your recent experience might have given you a sense of this. That's why Thomas Altross founded the Center a hundred years ago: to introduce the future leader of all the regions to each other, bur more importantly, to themselves" Lance paused "Are you with me so far?"

They stopped at the end of the corridor. The observatory chamber opened ahead like a globe attached to the end of a stick. The walls, the ceiling, the entire floor below the telescope was made of clear glass bricks. He felt like he was tumbling through open air. Ash reached the telescope and tried to focus on it to get his head to stop spinning.

"Wherever you are in the world, fifty percent of the people you see are below average. The rest are, for the most part, only slightly above average. I'm not suggesting there's anything wrong with being average. because there isn't. But exceptional people are, by definition, exceptionally rare. And we know from history that innovation and adaptation have allowed us to leapt forward as a species"

Ash leaned in and looked through the brass eyepiece. Expecting a dim view of the daylight sky, he couldn't identify what appeared. Blurry globes and fuzzed out splotches of color floated through his field of vision, like the slide of microbial in a drop of water viewed through a microscope. Then he realized, the telescope was trained on the commons in the middle of campus half a mile away. He was watching the magnified students as if they were feet in front of him.

"All of these young men and women, like you, posses the talent and potential to become exceptional. Uncommon people who will one day do uncommon things. And if we do our jobs correctly, by the time you leave here you will have realized that potential. In the meantime, make new friends, connect, leaner from each other, and for each other. Find your Gates of Hell and vanquish what lays inside. Because one day, much sooner than you realize, this will become your world. That wasn't too terribly painful was it?"

"No, sir"

"I always felt like this place would be the perfect place to dream"

_'Yeah, the perfect place to die' _Ash thought. With that, he pitched forward, unconscious, and slammed into the transparent floor

**Alright now here's the question, which female characters should I put in the story, I already have May in there for a reason, her circumstances as a character are too perfect for me not to use her but I can get one more in there and I don't know which one I should. So, I want you guys to tell me who to put in. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, suggestions, requests, and anything else is always welcome. I'm not sure when I'll update next, whenever it is i have the chapter done I will. Till next time**

**-novaking2832**


	3. Chapter 3: The Center

**Still haven't uploaded anything. I'm just worried that I won't be able to stick to a schedule that I like to have. I've come to realize that my stopping points have a lot more words in them than I thought, I'm not sure who long I'm going to be able to keep that going. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to update every week on Friday like I want. I already have 1 and 2 done, they haven't been uploaded so that'll give me head start at least. Well, with some luck and courage I hold very, very, _very,_ deep in me, I'll post this tomorrow or after tonight, we'll see.**

**Fallingarcher22: Really!?. You just made my day. If you actually felt the tension and aren't bullshitting me, ah! god I feel happy I got that through. I like the rule concept as well, I might use it for future stories. Also, these are actually applicable ****right? Anyone could use these to a certain extent, right?**

**aboz567: Sorry aboz, the final vote was between Cynthia and Dawn and I got a PM with a vote for Cynthia so it's going to be her. As for the pairing, I don't I could make it go either way, whichever you prefer I guess.**

**Shadow'Blaze14: Sorry, mate, I already have a role for Sabrina, I might switch it for someone else though. You're going to have to wait a while to understand everything. Bits will be getting revealed throughout the story, but not the entire truth at once. **

**JD199: Oh, thanks. I'm happy you like them. My other story gets better as it goes on (in my opinion at ****least) because I got progressively better at writing as the weeks passed.**

**Chapter 3: The Center**

_"Men naturally despise those who court them, but respects those who do not give way to them"_

_-Thucydides_

* * *

><p>Ash woke to soft classical music and voices miring nearby. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed in a dimly lit room. Shades of white and grey appeared as his vision gradually came onto focus.<p>

"He's awake" he heard someone say

Blaine sat by his bedside, regarding him with gentle concern. Ms. Drasna joined him a mount later. A young female nurse in a crisp white uniform appeared on the other side of the bed.

Ash sighed and rubbed his eyes "Where am I?"

"The infirmary" Blaine said "You gave us quite a fright young man"

"How are you feeling?" Drasna asked

His head ached sharply when he tried to move, but he ignored it. He raised his left hand, and brought it to a bandage on his head, noticing he wore a clip on the index finger connected to a pulse monitor the norse was now checking. "Okay I think, what happened?"

"You passed out in the Infinity Room and hit your head on one of the steps leading up to the telescope. According to the diagnostic, you passed out because you haven't slept in over twenty-four hours and had almost nothing in you stomach to keep you awake and give enough energy to move. Not to mention the strain on your back, where did those scars come from if you don't mind me asking?" Blaine asked

What's this?" Ash asked, indicating a small bandage inside his right elbow, purposely ignoring Blaine's question

"A blood sample" Drasna said "Precautionary tests. Lance sands his apologies for not letting you go sooner"

"How long was I out?"

"About twenty minutes, Lance drove you himself"

"How long do I have to stay?"

"Until they check under the hood, and nothing to strenuous for you today"

The curtain ahead was yanked aside, and teasing female voice said "You sure know how to make an entrance"

A girl about Ash's age, wearing a school uniform skirt and blouse, stood at the food of the bed. She was slender athletic, with shoulder length, fairly curly brunette locks, that seemed to ring around her shoulders and beautiful blue eyes. She wore a wry, crooked smile slightly at odds with the rest of her delicate features. In short, she was gorgeous.

He didn't trust her already.

"C-collapsing because you are an insomniac and anorexic is a real attention-getter" He hid a smile when she faltered, noticing his eyes

"This is May Maple, she will be your student liaison for the first few days. She'll show you around and help you settle in"

"They always give me the hopeless cases" May said with the sweetest smile

"I feel better already, is this going to scar" he asked, indicating the small bandage on his head, where his head met the step

"Your injury or your time with me?"

"I can always get stitches"

May giggled. _A good sign. _They let him out of bed after the nurse checked his vitals. She told him to come in for a follow-up in two days, avoid strenuous exercise and get some rest along with a proper meal. He didn't appear to have a concussion, but he was to call if any symptoms appeared. The nurse insisted on a wheelchair to which Ash vehemently refused stating "I'm not so weak as the the point of a wheelchair"

Rule #86: NEVER BE NERVOUS TALKING TO A BEAUTIFUL GIRL, JUST PRETEND SHE'S A PERSON, TOO

Rule #88: THE MOST COMMON WAYS TO DIE ARE BY MONEY, POISON, BETRAYAL, AND WOMEN. THE LAST TWO TEND TO JOIN TOGETHER, BUT BE WARY OF THEM ALL

Kind of contradicting yourself there dad. "Is this your idea of a good time? Showing guys around the school?"

"Hush" whispered May "They'll still think your woozy"

"Let's meet in my office tomorrow morning at nine, Ash. We'll go over your schedule and curriculum. Mr. Blaine has offered to be your faculty councilor for now"

"If that's alright with you" said Blaine

"Of course it's alright with me" Ash said as he stood up, shaking the hands with both adults, and they walked to an electric golf cart parked nearby, bearing the Center's name and colors. "You chariot awaits, sir" she said. Ash's duffel bag sat in the back. He eased himself into the passenger's seat while May took the wheel. Ash's forehead ached, his back was searing, and he felt absolutely exhausted, but he shoved it all down, and masked the pain and fatigue

"This is all you brought? You travel light"

"Habit I guess"

"So you got to tell, what's you first impression?" she said, shifting the cart unto gear and steering them onto a crosswalk. "Where are you from?" she asked

"I've lived in every region the world has to offer, I couldn't tell you my real home even if I tried" Ash said, taking the bandage off his forehead

"Military family?"

"Not even close, now where are you from?"

"I'm asking the questions here newbie". She waved at some buildings as they passed "Those are the kitchens, that's security, transportation. This, as you may have guessed, is the more quotidian side of the campus"

Ash felt a spike of anger '_Like I don't know what quotidian means'._ "Would you like to hear what I know about you?"

She glanced at Ash "What could you possibly know abou-"

"Your fifteen, coming on sixteen quickly. You have one younger brother. You come from a wealthy family. You play the violin. You grew up in suburban Petalburg, but you've lived in at least two Yvonne-speaking areas because your father works for the Pokemon League-"

May slammed on the brakes and looked at him alarm "How did you know that? Have you looked at my dossier?"

Ash shook his head and smiled. May's eye knotted, her eyes flashing. She drummed her fingers on the wheel, expecting an explanation, letting him know she didn't like waiting. "Your accent derives from the suburbs of Pedalburg, your fingers are calloused suggesting you play a stringed instrument, the most likely options being the violin and the cello. I speak Yvonne, and although it is a dying language, you sound like you learned it as a second language. I put it together with the suburbs of Pedalburg and came up with Gym Leader or Pokemon League"

That explanation would have been much easier to accept rather than _"My parents trained me to obsessively observe and assess every stranger I meet for reasons they never bothered to explain. And it's a hard talent to turn off, especially when the "stranger" is a beautiful girl"_. Yeah, no, not saying that.

"How did you know I have a younger brother?"

"Your disposition toward males shows that you have one that either constantly annoys you, or you've had one majorly traumatic experience with one that still affects you"

"Oh, and yeah, my Dad's the Pedalburg Gym Leader, but I don't play the violin, I play the cello" She drove on, pretending he hadn't freaked her out. Athough she didn't seem to be looking at him from quite as steep an angle downward as she had been. "There's the Administration Building, pay attention, Captain Concussion, you're meeting Ms. Drasna there in the morning"

"Got it". _W__ould now be a bad time to tell her I memorized almost all of the campus?_

"And this is the main campus building coming into view on our left-"

May kept up her museum tour-guide patter, naming every building, including _three_ different libraries, as they trolled around the commons. Ash paid zero attention. The girl behind the wheel was more fascinating, someone of a completely different life style than Ash. She came from a world of power, money, and privilege, a million miles from his own. He'd never met anyone like her, she had confidence and the looks to go along with it, but not in the manipulative way of a girl who relied solely on her looks. Her poise and intelligence impressed him more so than her looks. But he decided that she didn't know a thing about him, and he knew quite a bit about her, it was best to keep it that way.

As they made their way around, other students waved, regarding the obvious newcomer with friendly smiles. May waved back, as serene and elegant as the Queen of the Rose Parade, even the carts driven by smiling security guards, who all looked like Brawly: heavyset, with rough faces and spiky hair

"Is every security guard here from Hoenn?"

"You noticed already" she said, then glanced at him again "Not that I should be surprised"

"What's the reason?"

"Aside form the fact that they're huge, agile, and string enough to tear a bus apart with to hands? They're from the same clan. My favorite theory, although that's probably all it is, is that they're reformed gangsters from Hoenn that were trying to raise up some powerful Pokemon. My father says we should be happy they're on our side, and if that changes, be happy their home is way in the middle of the ocean"

They followed apathy away from the commons through a birch forest on a narrow plateau. Along a winding lane stood four identical marble buildings, each four stories with gabled roofs and lots of ornamental detail.

"These are the residence halls, bring your bag" she said

Mat parked in front of the last building in the row. He followed her to the front doors. A sign on the wall red "Altross Hall". He followed her down a wide empty hallway with stone floors and light pine woodwork to a door with a sign: Altross Hall Provost Marshall. She pushed open the door and pointed to a table in the square, wood paneled room.

"Put your bag down there and stand back"

Puzzled, Ash did what he was told. May knocked on an inner door, then stepped back beside him. Moments later a tall, slope-shouldered young man entered, wearing a blue blazer with the Center's crest on the pocket and a Windsor-knotted tie stripped with school colors. He closed the door quietly and precisely behind him, he wore heavy black wingtips on big flat feet the splayed to the side as he walked. A head of finely cut blue hair split down the middle of his head and split to each side of his head, framing his face. His green eyes had grey circles under them, only adding to his pale complexion.

"Ash Ketchum, James Lewis" said May "Altross Hall's provost marshall"

James looked over Ash with darting green eyes that radiated furtive intelligence. He took two measured steps forward, offered a handshake and an obsequious smile. Something about James, maybe his posture, made him seem like a bird of prey. May edged back as James advanced, she seemed more than a little afraid of him

"So pleased to have you with us" James said

"Likewise. What's a provost marshall?"

James seemed amused by the question "We have rules in the residence halls. I don't make them, but I am charged with enforcing them. Reluctantly, on occasion, but at all times, I can assure you, with alacrity" He reached over and unzipped Ash's bag. Ash thought about stopping, but a worried look from May told him not to.

"You can start by giving me your Xtransceiver"

"Why?"

"They're not allowed on campus, school policy"

"No phones, no texting?" asked Ash, addressing mat as much as James. May confirmed with a subtle shake of her head "I'd like to hear the reason"

"Students at campus are encouraged to communicate through more traditional methods" James said patiently "Using the neglected arts of face-to-face conversation and written word. Or, if need be, our system of courtesy telephones, placed conveniently throughout the facilities"

"That seems, nothing personal, completely insane"

"Everyone feels that way when they first arrive" James held his hand up. He wanted Ash's gear and he wanted it now. Ash tried to stall, he couldn't afford to lose his contact with Brock "How am I going to access the internet and other online sources?"

"The school provides every student with a customized tablet for their personal use. Our IT staff will transfer all your data onto its hard drive-"

"What if I prefer my own?"

"-built with components and software develop din our labs. Considerably more sophisticated than this dreck form your suburban retailer. Isn't that right Miss Maple?"

"Yes". With her eyes, May urged him not to press this

"When do I get them back?"

James made a visible effort to stay calm "They're securely stored and returned to you at the end of the term"

"I've got a bunch of stuff on my laptop I need to back up on a hard drive, address book, calendar, personal files-"

"Go right ahead, _now_"

His laptop was one of his most precious possessions, a luxury his parents had scarcely been able to afford. He glanced at May again. She looked panicked: _Please cooperate_. He latched cable from his laptop to a data card and started to sync.

"Can I keep my iPod? Or do we have to transfer everything back to vinyl?"

A laugh burst form May, which she quickly stifled. James didn't react. He moved to a cabinet in the corner of the room, unlocked it, and collected some printed material. While his back was turned, he unclipped the Xtransceiver from his wrist and slipped it into May's hands. Wide eyes and alarmed, she hid it behind her as James walked back to Ash. "Your copy of our Student Code of Conduct" James said "And I need your signature on this release form, which stipulates that you will comply and be bound by all rules and regulations herein"

Rule #42: NEVER SIGN A LEGAL DOCUMENT THAT HASN'T BEEN APPROVED BY A LAWYER WHO WORKS FOR YOU

James offered a pen from his pocket. Ash ignored it

"Great, I'll take a look at it and get back to you"

James searched him, looking for insubordination, but Ash just smiled. "I'm going to examine the rest of your belongings" James said "You'll find the legal authority of this on page six, article three: Arrival Inspection. Along with a detailed list of banned and forbidden objects and substances"

Ash glanced at May. She confirmed this with an anxious nod.

"Empty your pockets"

Ash turned the pockets of his sweats insides out. James opened his bag and poked around, delicately, using a pen. He fished out Ash's Swiss Army knife and held it in the palm of his hand. "Violation" he said, smirking "This is a weapon"

"Sorry to quibble, but that's incorrect. May I?" asked Ash, lifting the knife from James's hand "It had a blade, yes, but that was originally included so soldiers could open cans of field rations" Ash unfolded each tool "It also has a chisel, scissors, a bottle opener, a screwdriver, and awl, a wire stripper, and a key ring. They gave it to men who already had knives, rifles, bayonets, and hand grenades. It's not a weapon, it's a toolbox, and I'll call and argue that to the headmaster right now if you'd like"

Fuming, James set the knife back in Ash's bag. After more probing he lifted out a folded hand towel. Setting it on the table, he unrolled it, revealing the remains of the broken Pidgey. _Why do I keep fucking forgetting that's in there?_

James held out a questing hand "Science project" Ash said "From y old school. I'm still tinkering, so I couldn't bear to part with it-"

"What is this?"

"What does it look like?"

"It _looks _like a mechanical Pidgey"

"Yes, that's exactly what I was going for"

Ash could tell James wanted to confiscate the bird, confiscate anything, and was fishing for a reason. "Don't tell me mechanical birds are on the banned list" Ash said

"Surveillance equipment is"

"Surveillance equipment?"

"That's a camera, isn't it?" James asked, pointing to the eye

"That's flattering, James, but you have wildly overestimated my engineering ability. I couldn't even program the thing to tweet, let alone fly. I'm hoping somebody here can teach me how-"

James drew himself up and locked eyes with Ash. Ash felt a strong, unpleasant pressure in his head, like a steel band tightening around his skull, followed immediately by a sensation that someone was poking at the edge of his brain with a knife. Ash didn't want to show that he felt anything so he turned to May. She looked pale and sincerely frightened.

And suddenly, Ash understood why: James knew how to play some mind games, just like Ash did, but unlike Ash, he had no qualms about using it against other people.

Ash tired pushing a blank picture at him, but it seemed to have no effect. He began to lose the battle, but then something stirred inside Ash, like an electric current twitching to life. He sensed more power, but had no idea how to use it. As he struggled, his perception of James shifted, a new field opened up before him. He could see and hear whispered suggestions form James, floating towards him like a volley of slow-moving bullets. Poisonous fragments of thought embedded in soul piercing jackets aimed at his mind.

_Let go ... stop fighting ... let me in ... don't resist ... I'm your friend ... trust me ..._

Ash almost recoiled, instinctively, he knew that if one of James's "bullets" hit him, he'd end up doing exactly what James wanted. No wonder he scared the crap out of kids like May. The thought of this arrogant cretin intimidating May pushed Ash over the edge. His anger ramped up and pulled a surge of power from the source, bringing up and impenetrable shield to block the bullets.

Their energies collided, James's bullets shattered as they hit the shield, but when they did, Ash felt that whatever power he had, it was stronger than his own. A violent shock ran back to Ash, but he stood strong. But James visibly recoiled, eyes lit up in shock. Ash realized something, _he's never been challenged before_

James's eye redlined with anger. With his new awareness, Ash could see James's power regroup into a dark and dangerous mass, his first attempt had been to probe, this was meant to punish.

Ash knew he'd have little chance this time. So instead of trying to block him, Ash feinted forwards, then yanked his shield back and to the side. Like pulling the chair out form under someone halfway to sitting down. The blow James had about to dish out blow past him, it felt like a freight train missing him by an inch.

The energy in the room sizzled and then vanished with a snap. They stood there, looking at each other, exactly as before. They'd hardly moved a muscle during the mental brawl. James smiled confidently, showing his canines "I'm quite certain somebody here can teach you something". He placed the bird back in Ash's bag.

A tone sounded, indicating Ash's laptop had synced. James disconnected them and placed them in a plastic tray

"As soon as the data transfer is complete you new tablet will be sent to your quarters. Miss Maple will show you to them now" James said, nodding at May who opened the outer door. She could;t leave the room fast enough . Ash zipped up his bag and winked at James, sending him a quick smirk before wiping it off his face as he turned to the door. "See you around campus, pal"

James didn't respond until Ash reached the door

"Ketchum. Let me offer some personal advice: At the Center, we say that problems exist in order to inspire us to find solutions. Don't become and inspiration to me"

James disappeared into his inner office. Ash walked outside to join May. After a few steps he had to put a hand on the wall and to steady himself. The same blackness he felt at the airport washed over him, although this time, it was much worse.

"Are you alright?" May asked

He grunted, holding his head. She leaned against the wall beside him, close. Still afraid

"How did you do that?" she whispered

_How much does she understand about what went on in there?_

"Do what?" he whispered back

"Stand up to James in that way. I've never seen anybody manage it before"

Rule #100: THERE IS NOT, NOR SHOULD THERE BE, ANY LIMIT TO WHAT A GUY WILL GO THROUGH TO IMPRESS THE RIGHT GIRL

"I don't like bullies" he said

She pressed his Xtransceiver into Ash's hand. He slipped it into his pocket. Come on, let's get you upstairs" she said, taking his arm.

Deciding he shouldn't take the stairs, she helped Ash through the doors of an elevator. The elevator deposited them into a central lobby full of light and brightly colored couches. Corridors ran out from the lobby like spokes from the hub of a wheel. She helped him down one of the corridors with shorter passages fed of either side. Turning down the last on on the left, May took out a key card. they approached a white door marked with red raised letters: G4-3

"Four floors each hall. Twelve pods a floor. Five students a pod" May said

"1,360 students"

"Well aren't you smart"

She scanned the card through a box above the handle cousin an electronic tone to sound. They entered a large octagonal central space, punched with wide skylights that cheerfully brightened the room. Clusters of comfortable couches overstuffed chairs in muted soft colors softened with sharp architectural lines. She guided him to a dining table with five chairs that sat outside a small, efficient kitchen.

"Sit here" she said, easing Ash into one of the chairs "Be right back"

She disappeared through one of the five doors that led off the great room. Ash took the opportunity to look around. Built in bookshelves lined the walls. A single step led down to the heart of the room, where large pillows and throw rugs surrounded a round rock fireplace, Two old fashioned black phones sat on opposite end of the room. There were no TV or computer screens in sight, which made the room seem strangely timeless.

Classical piano music played from inside one of the closed bedroom doors. Someone was practicing, someone exceptionally skilled. May returned with cotton pads and hydrogen peroxide. She opened the bottle and soaked one of the pads.

"You don't have to so this. I can go back to the infirmary" Ash said. His head still hurt, but the weakness was fading .

"Two years as a nurses aid, I think I can manage" May said "My mom's a doctor. Tilt your head this way"

She leaned over, brushed his hair out of the way and dabbed the peroxide gently on the now open wound on his forehead. He willed himself not to react. She bit her lip as she concentrated. Looks like nothing major, you just reopened it, but it's already closed. Doesn't this hurt like hell?"

"No"

"Liar. I'd be screaming"

"Nurse's aid, huh?"

"Shut up" May finished cleaning the wound and prepped a new bandage to replace the one Ash had taken off during the tour.

"How'd you end up here?"

"My dad's an alumnus. We never really discussed my going anywhere else"

"So it had nothing to do with your test scores?"

"My scores were great, but legacy kids also have an inside track. I've known I was coming here since the third grade" She applied the new bandage "There, that'll do it. Don't tell another soul you have an Xtransceiver"

"I won't if you won't"

May looked seriously at him "No joke Ash. I saw James find a Blackberry on a freshman last year. The kid got a nosebleed that wouldn't quit"

_And I'll bet James never laid a hand on him_. "The wrong people always get put in charge"

"I should have warned you about James. Next time you'll know better"

_Next time I'll be ready_

"I'm sorry did you say something?" she asked

"No". _Okay, this is happening a lot lately._

May gave him a long look, then set the medical supplies on a counter and turned to formal tour guide again. "So this is our shared space. Communal kitchen. Bedrooms are through each door. You're over here"

She led him to a door marked "4". Inside was a surprisingly large furnished too with irregular angles, pale blue walls, and dark hardwood floors. It was furnished with a single bed, nightstand, and a sturdy desk with futuristic meshwork chair. One of the black phones sat on the desk. A chest of drawers sat in an open closet. A large bay window looked out over the woods, away from campus. The only other door led to a private white-tiles bathroom.

"The blank canvas is intentional, by the way. Your expected to make it your own. Are you hungry?"

"Starved"

"Take your time. I'll see what we have in the kitchen"

She closed the door behind her. Ash set his bag on the bed. Tested the mattress. Firm, but not too firm: perfect balance. The room felt pleasant but utterly neutral. He might've been anywhere in the world.

_This is where I live now_

He'd faced this moment countless times before. He was used to starting over

_But never alone. Never without my parents_

He wrestled the feeling of being alone down before anguish overwhelmed him. He would not break. Not now. Not ever.

He'd been dropped into this new life now. he had to stay strong and keep moving forward. That's what his parents would want him to do.

Rule #50: IN TIMES OF CHAOS, STICK TO ROUTINE. BUILD ORDER ONE STEP AT A TIME

Ash took a long look in the mirror, and didn't like what he saw: exhausted, pale, beaten down. He sighed and walked away from the mirror and put away a few clothes in the closet. Set the mechanical bird in the top drawer of the dresser and folded the towel over it. Dad's rulebook went on the bedside table. He hid the Xtransciever under the mattress, figuring he'd find a better hiding place later.

Ash took a shower. Instant hot water blasted from an adjustable showerhead under solid pressure. Careful not to get his hair wet, he washed off the wear and tear of the road. Somewhat revived, he changed into his spare jeans, a white t-shirt, and his zip-up hoodie. Which more or less exhausted his wardrobe.

He heard raise voices from the great room and opened the door. An older boy stood near the front door. He was three about the same height as Ash, maybe a but shorter, and a good fifteen pounds lighter than him, but what weight he did have was well built muscle. He had a mop of green hair with ruddy cheeks, he wore trim grey khakis and a tight navy blue polo. He held May's left wrist in his right hand, twisting it slightly, pulling her closer.

"That's not what you said. That's not what we agreed on" he said, just short of yelling

"Lower your voice and let go of me-" she said

"Hey there" Ash said "What's the good word?"

The boy looked at Ash, surprised "Who's this noob?" he asked May

"He just got here"

Ash walked over, grinning like a clueless goofball. "My name's Ash Ketchum. Kinds sounds like ketchup doesn't it? Really pleased to meet you. And you are?". Ash extended his hand, radiating nerd vibes. Some vestige of country club manner hit the front of the guy's brain. He let go of May's wrist and shook Ash's hand

"Drew Larousse"

Drew opened his eyes really wide, simulating interest, and clamped down on Ash's hand as hard as he could. Ash pretended it hurt a lot more than it did (which was hardly at all), trying to shake it off.

"Dang, that's some grip, Drew. I'll never be able to play the piano again" He held up his hand, hanging limply, and chuckled. Drew stared at him as if he had leprosy. "You must be an athlete right? What sport? I'm guessing you do most of 'em! I just got here and I already miss my Houndour. Do you have a Houndour? Mine's named Oscar. He's got long hair. You know, like and Oscar _M__ayer _cause he's a wiener dog-"

Drew turned to May "We'll talk about this later"

He slammed the door as he left. Ash's demeanor took a quick turn, adopting the look of a cold-hearted killer about to hunt his prey. May, flushed and upset, hurried to the kitchen. Ash trailed her to the dining area. She came back carrying a large plate, which she set down, noisily, on the table.

"Excuse me a moment" she said. May hurried into bedroom 1 and closed the door. A moment later, Ash heard crying. Knowing he wasn't familiar with her enough to comfort her, he sent her a picture of Ambrette, the beautiful mountains, the sun, the ocean calmly lulling against the shore. Unsure of what to do, he went back to the table, where there was a pitcher of lemonade and tall glasses with ice, small earthen tubs of three different dips, a selection of sliced vegetables, some apples, and a dish of spiced olives.

_Wait, she lives here. There is a God_

The front door flew open. An elfish blonde-haired kid bolted in, arms full of boxes overflowing with electronic components. He stopped, startled, when he saw Ash. His skin was pale, his eyes big, blue, and shiny. The kid studied him intensely, his round glasses giving him an cautious look, but his expression didn't change. Then he hurried to bedroom 3, transferring his load onto one skinny arm juts long enough to unlock the door. He pushed it open with his butt, darted inside, and closed it behind him. Ash heard multiple locks being thrown form the other side.

Ash tilted his chair on the back two legs and closed his eyes, feeling a little amused at the reaction he got from the the be-speckled boy when he saw the eyes. He brings his chair back down just as May came out of her room. Eye's red, forcing a smile, determined to proceed as if nothing named Drew Larousse had jammed her frequencies. She sat at the table and grazed from the platter. Ash sat across from her and took a good sized bite form an apple.

"We have a good group here, all things considered" she waved a carrot toward door 3. "You'll like Clemont. Everybody likes Clemont. He's indispensable". She took a bite from the carrot and pointed to door 2 "But Paul's a ginormous pain in the ass. Do you like sports?"

"To a certain degree"

"Then who knows, maybe you'll be the one to get him to open up"

Ash finished his apple and, without looking, threw it into the trashcan. Taking a moment to look impressed, May waved her carrot stub at door 5, where Ash heard the piano music earlier. "Cynthia is in five. Cynthia is... well, you'll see for yourself. She popped the carrot into her mouth.

"So are all the pods co-ed?"

"Is that a problem for you?"

"Not really"

"Because one of the halls is segregated by floors if it is-"

"-It's not"

"-But you's have to tell Ms. Drasna-"

"It's not an issue"

She leaned back and smiled "You might feel differently when you meet Cynthia"

"I highly doubt I'll feel differently"

She took a bit of a red pepper "You don't have a Houndour named Oscar"

"I don't even have a pet"

"So you were just messing with Drew"

"Doesn't everybody?"

"No. Not even a little bit"

"Yes, I was messing with Drew. Better than breaking his arm"

Door 3 opened. Clemont stepped out and made sure his door was locked

"Clemont, this is Ash" May said "He's moving into number four"

"So I see" Clemont said with a small bow "Welcome sir. Misery is compounded by solitude, so it does in fact and indeed, prefer company". He had a dignified voice with a refined Lumiose accent. He looked about twelve and sounded like he was running for president.

"Oh crap" May said, glancing at the wall clock. "I've got to get to a lab. Clemont, could you take care of Ash for a while? He needs clothes, groceries, books, and supplies. It's all really kind of desperate. Back in a bit" May hurried out the front door. Clemont stood at her previously occupied seat and helped himself to an olive

"If that is indeed the case" Clemont said "Then I am entirely the man you need to see: Clemont Citron, entirely at your service" Clemont tossed the olive five feet in the air, and caught it in his mouth.

**Sorry to everybody who likes Drew. I don't have anything against him, it's just he is so involved with May, that he's the perfect person to use as the "bad guy". I could have used him for another ****purpose but then I wouldn't have had a good character for May's main problem so, sorry. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, I don't know when I'm going to be uploading the next chapter but I'll get to it. Requests, suggestions, questions, hate, and anything else is always welcome, I hope you all have a good day, so, till next time**

**-novaking2832**


	4. Chapter 4: You Push me, I Crush you

**Hello again, I hope some of you have sent he movie Fury. It's actually quite good, aside from making it seem like american soldiers don't die unless they've taken out hundreds of enemy soldiers with them, which is true, in a way. But I enjoyed it enormously, they did the best they could with it and even made the ending believable, there was no other way it would've happened if the German did what he did (Trying not give away spoilers) Anyway, I hope you all had a good week and here is chapter 4.**

**Guest: Thanks, I'm happy you enjoyed it. Well that depends, do you want Advanceshipping in it?**

**mark:**** Well, I'll chalk another vote up for Cynthia. I never watched the show, so I wouldn't know. But they're the same age and I'm told they have a lot in common so, whatever.**

**JD199:**** Really? I wonder why so many people hate Drew? Oh shit, man, I didn't want to get you in trouble or anything. Sorry. I thought Clemont was best suited for the role. He seemed like a perfect match**

**La Belle Coeur:**** Thanks? I'll be sure to add your vote**

**Guest:**** Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get anyone in trouble **

**karsten557:**** Yeah, the Pokemon will come in later, some good, some bad, some with red cheeks and a yellow tail that has the ability to harness lightening, maybe. Well thanks, I appreciate it, but the writing style is pretty common, I'm just using it because it's easier on the brain for the reader.**

**Anon:**** A Riolu, eh? I can make it happen if you'd like **

**BestUsernameEver:**** It is a good book. but I'm not copying (ish), nor did I take credit. The disclaimer is at the beginning, but check it out below too. And I'm juts using the setup, you know, the school, the characters, and then I'm taking down a different path**

**Silver Reflexes:**** Chalk another one up for Cynthia. As for that, it wasn't so much suspense as it was adding to the mystery that I've made Cynthia. Throughout the story I'm going to keep her as a level headed snarky girl who's got a bite to match her bark. Also, the shipping has yet to be determined.**

**Alright, apparently I didn't make this obvious in the first chapter so I'll repeat myself. **

**I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE IDEA AT THE BEGINNING. AFTERWARDS YES, THOSE ARE MINE, BUT THE SETUP IS NOT. I like the setting so I'm using it. Hopefully that will take care of any future problems. Also, after this chapter (for the most part) it starts to divert from The Paladin Prophecy **

**Chapter 4: You Push Me, I Crush You**

_"The greatest strength you can have is relationships"_

_-Unknown_

* * *

><p>Clemont darted ahead of Ash into the hallway and through the side door. "We'll take the stairs" Clemont said "The elevators date from the early days of the Truman administration. They'd finish third in a race with a glacier and a deceased postal worker" he bounded down the stairs, brimming with energy he hardly seemed able to contain.<p>

"How badly are you injured?" he asked

"Not enough to cause for worry"

"And you arrived this morning. Where did you fly from?"

"Lumiose"

"Are those the only clothes you brought with you?" Clemont asked

"More or less"

Clemont stopped on a landing and assessed him "You're going to die of hypothermia almost immediately"

_You'd be surprised. _"So I've been told"

"How much money do you have?"

"What's below abject poverty?"

"Tell me you don't already have a crush on May"

"Uh, no. I don't"

Clemont shook his head in disappointed and continued down "Good God, man, we have our work cut out for us". Clemont pushed through the heavy ground floor door and set the same brisk pace outside towards campus. the temperature had warmed considerably, form crippling to just below disfiguring. Ash remained warm though, being a human superheater had its perks

"Why would you assume I have a crush on May?"

"Please, Ash. Destiny clearly intends, by virtue of domestic proximity, some sort of friendship for us, but you simply must acknowledge the danger of the situation"

"And what might that be?"

"Why, the astonishing and nearly supernatural attractiveness of not just our two extraordinary roommates, but the school's entire female population"

"You mean, they're all like May?"

"No, that's just it" Clemont said, gesturing expansively "They're all as different as snowflakes. Beautiful, interesting girls, each capable, in her own delicious way, of driving you to madness. Any red-blooded male would swim shark infested waters with a Bantu spear through his leg to change places with us. But if you don't control yourself, your nervous system will detonate like a string of firecrackers. A bomb-sniffing-dog couldn't have saved you"

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen, but chronological age is a most unreliable method of evaluation"

"Okay, if it'll make you happy then I guess May is a flat-out slammin' babe who'll rule the world using mind control through attractiveness. That better?"

"Yes! We've established you're not a robot" Clemont said, slapping him on the back, laughing heartily, and led them to one of the larger buildings. A substantial sign read "Student Union". It did nothing to prepare Ash for what awaited on the other side.

The Student Union was the size of a shopping mall. A grocery store took up the southwestern corner. He saw a laundry and dry cleaners next door to a bank, a massive sporting goods store, and a store offering every art or academic supply imaginable. The school bookstore seemed to go on forever. It opened into a busy food court offering eight different cuisines, none of which looked fast, cheap, or unhealthy. Across form that was a duplex movie theater that was still in general release. Clemont explained that the other theater ran only classics front he "Golden Age" of movies, before Star Wars, as part of a film studies course. The marquee read "Hitchcock's "Rear Window"". Next door was the six lane bowling alley and soda fountain that he'd seen on the school's promotional materials.

Ash followed Clemont into a clothing store as big as a football field, with a row of every item you could imagine in variations of schools colors. Ash felt intensely aware he only had a hundred dollars left in his wallet.

"Start your engines" Clemont said, handing Ash a wheeled shopping cart "I'll be right back". He hurried off, while Ash went to the winter wear section. he didn't see any price tags, but the piece he wanted most, a heavy grey sweatshirt with a navy blue "CIL"embroiled on the chest- had cost half of what he had to his name. Reluctantly, he tossed it into the cart. He was trying to decide whether to spend the rest on a pair of khakis or a soccer jersey when Clemont returned.

"This was waiting for you at the counter" Clemont said "You didn't tell me you were a full scholarship, man. That's an entirely different kind of race"

Clemont handed him a thick plastic credit card. it was blank, with the same deep blackness he'd seen in Drasna's expanding tablet. Clemont ran his finger along its outer edge, activating a sensor. The schools fret appeared, flaring in the center. Below that was a sixteen-digit code number and the name "Ketchum"

Ash turned it over. A standard magnetized credit card strip ran along the back. His parents had explained who these strips worked, how banks and companies used them to store confidential information they'd gathered about you. He wondered how much information was already embedded in there.

"Do they take cash?" Ash asked

"Cash? For heaven's sake, man,you don't need cash anymore. You have the Card now. You can use it everywhere"

"What's the limit on it?"

"If there is a limit, it will now be your job to find it" Clemont said

_Living expenses, books and supplies, all included._ Once again, Ms. Drasna delivered what she'd promised. "Let's so it" Ash said. He dropped the pants and the jersey into the cart. He's never shopped anywhere without the pressure of a budget. The prospect made him somewhat excited, but cautious even more so. And despite Clemont's encouraging to break the bank, he still felt like he would be taking advantage of the opportunity. Clemont kept tossing things into the cart and Ash kept putting them back.

Rule #81: NEVER TAKE MORE THEN YOU NEED

Three pairs of pants, five navy and gray shirts, a week's worth of socks and boxers, a pair of heavy soled winter boots, a set of thin winter gloves, and two sets of long underwear. The only luxury he allowed himself was a navy blue and gray North Face Denali Hoodie, but he easily convinced himself he needed it for survival. A friendly cashier rang it up, asked for his card, and passed it over a scanner that made the card glow. Ash didn't have to sign anything, he never saw a total, and no process appeared on the receipt she gave him.

"How long have you been here?" Ash asked

"My second year. As a freshman, I was roughly the size of a slice of an apple" Clemont laughed again, infectiously. Ash found it hard not to laugh along with him, especially when he made jones at his own expense.

They were were seated in the food court, over teriyaki rice bowls and sunomono salads made to order, fresh and flavorful, and all paid by Ash. A full stomach did wonders for his mood though, despite being used for his seemingly infinite amount of money.

"So what's with the big noise about cellphones and laptops?" Ash asked

Clemont's brow knit together and his look darkened "So you met James"

"Yes"

Clemont leaned forward "At first I assumed it was a rule they imposed to show their in charge and it would be more honored in the breach than the observance. that proved not to be the case. They take this very seriously indeed"

"But why? For what reason?"

"They don't want our faces buried in phones or hands stuck up the internet all the time. They really _do_ want us to talk to each other"

"Texting is a form of talking, and usually a lot more efficient" Ash said

"I wouldn't argue Ash, but I don't make the rules. And honestly, after a while you'll find face-to-face communicate works entirely to your personal benefit. It forces you outside of your comfort zone, refines social skills, in a good way. Believe it or not, I used to be quite the introvert"

"You're making that up". It took a lot of self control to not put sarcasm into his voice

"It's true, I swear to you! And now look at me, a regular chatterbox. I'm completely out of my shell" Clemont took a small rectangular black box from the folder May had given him and pushed it across the table "Clip that onto your belt. It's a pager, if anyone tries to reach you on the internal phone system, this beeps. Pick up any phone on campus and the operator instantly connects the call"

"So I'll have to deal with the texting thing, but what about email?" Ash asked

"You'll get an email address with your tablet. It's connected to the main servers for the schools internal network"

"Wait, you mean it only works on campus? What about internet access?"

"Limited. No Wi-Fi or networks out here. you can sign on using ports in the libraries, for specific research, but outside websites are severely restricted"

Ash's anger rose, but he kept it hidden "We can't even get the Net from our own rooms?"

"No surfing, no social networking (he actually preferred that one), no console or online games"

"TV?"

"There's one in the student union, but I've never seen anyone watching it"

Finally Ash let his mask break a little, allowing a frown to form on his face "But these are basic principles of free speech. The right to access useless information and mindless mediocre entertainment-"

"The Center's a private institution; they can set any rules they like"

"This isn't a Communist State. They can't just shut down the pipeline and cut us off form the rest of the world-"

"The point is there's hardly _time_ for such things, Ash. They work us like sled dogs, and in case you never noticed, sled dogs love the harness! You'll see. Don't underestimate the joy of being challenged or losing yourself in work. I'm talking one hundred percent immersion: classes, labs, homework, and field assignments. Add that to all the social activities: sports leagues, clubs, concerts, dances-"

"Yeah, I'll got all that advertising bullshit from the packet, but dances?"

Clemont lowered his voice so no one would overhear "As part of Fall Hayride festivities last month, I even attended a _square dance_"

"I don't believe you"

"It was insanely fun! Call me crazy. The girls, man, the girls" Clemont jumped up and demonstrated his square dance

Ash's mind drifted to Drew Larousse, or rather, what could give him means to lay his hands on a woman in such a harsh manner. He needed background on that situation.

When they finished eating, Clemont led him to the soda fountain by the bowling alley for a chocolate milkshake, which was hand crafted by a server wearing a white peaked cap, like the soda jerk in the Norman Rockwell print. Frost formed on the silver goblet as Ash poured his shake into a tall fountain glass. He ate slowly, knowing that the faster you ate a milkshake, the more the flavor faded. Pop music issue from a jukebox, the kind that didn't make your ears bleed, but there was a muted swell of crashing pins next door.

"Why a bowling alley?"

Clemont mimed throwing a bowling ball "Apparently the headmaster read a study that tied the decline of happiness in Hoenn to the disappearance of organized bowling teams"

"And you're on the team?" Ash stated, more than asked

"Yes, you'll love it. You even get a shirt, with your name on the pocket. Although for aesthetic purposes, I insisted that mine read "Tony"". So far, everything about the Center looked and felt fine tuned to perfection, as dreamlike as a movie set. Wherever Ash turned, he saw nothing but content and happy faces, exactly as advertised.

He didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit

"Ever wake up and feel like you're dreaming?"

"Ash" Clemont said, suddenly serious "My mother cam to Kalos form Hoenn at the age of nine. Her impoverished parents worked as domestics in a casino and eventually bought a dry cleaners. My father's from an old aristocratic Sinnoh family that lost everything but their luggage in the Great Pokemon War. He grew up in Lumiose, a penniless immigrant. Worked his way through Lumiose University and eventually bought his own auto-body garage. My mother attended community college at night to train as a pharmacist. She landed a job in Lumiose where they met and fell in love leading to me, their only child.

"As a result of this unusual heritage, of which I am immensely proud of, I am odd by any reckoning. I stand barely five feet tall, and if you think I'm puny now, you should have seen me at six. It won't surprise you to leaner that I was bullied in school, unmercifully, form my first day of kindergarden all the way through junior high, by every redneck Neanderthal who ever laid their eyes on me. Girls found me to be. throughout these years, invisible to the naked eye. I knew, secretly, that I was smarter than all of these bastards and survived on my wits alone, with no way of knowing that I had anything worthwhile to offer any other living creature, that I was someone who could have friends and meets girls and experience something resembling a present or future. Until the day that i arrived at the Center"

Clemont held his gaze, openhearted and sincere. Ash felt ashamed of any impulse he'd had to doubt him

"If this is a dream, I'm begging you, don't ever let them wake me up"

* * *

><p>When they left the soda fountain, Clemont excused himself to go to class. Ash made a quick grocery run for staples like peanuts, apples, pears, crackers, and milk. He saw no junk food on the selves and tons of healthy foods; his mom would have approved, his dad would've groaned. He put on his new North Face hoodie for the walk back to Altross Hall.<p>

Back inside, the door to the provost marshall's office was open. Ash noticed a camera on the wall above the door. Inside the room, he caught a glimpse of James speaking intently to Drew Larousse.

Somehow he knew:_ They're talking about me _

They saw him as he passed. Drew's eyes filled with anger. Ash started up the stairs and heard James's door slam. He reached his floor and used his key card to enter the pod. As he carried his bags into the kitchen, he felt someone else watching him. He turned.

Stretched out on one of the sofas, a book open in front of her. Beautiful blonde hair flowed down to just above her waist with some hiding a part of her face like a curtain. Porcelain skin and arched brows and shaped her dazzling grey eyes, the kind he'd only seen in storm clouds. There appeared to be nothgin conventional about her. Words that came immediately to Ash's mind: Commanding, Intoxicating, Beautiful, Trouble.

She was dressed in black from head to toe: a tight skirt, leggings, a long jacket with a popped collar. She didn't move, secretly amused, still as regal as a Persian, and never took those unnerving eyes off him.

"You must be Cynthia" Ash said finally

One eyebrow rose slightly "_Must_ I?"

Ash felt like she was trying to toy with him "Yes 'must be'. Sticking with my original call"

"Well then..."

"Ash"

"Well then. Advantage, Ash" Cynthia said

_Something tells me I won't have it for long. _He snapped off a two finger salute, then, on purpose, tripped over his own feet and sent his bags flying. Cynthia rolled her eyes and shifted back to her book. _Dismissed_

He started to put his groceries away the second he entered his room. May and Cynthia under the same roof? Was this a blessing or a curse? So far, Clemont wasn't exaggerating about the girls at the Center. Something sitting on his desk caught his eye, his new "computing device". He examined it from every angle; it was nothing like a traditional laptop, more like a slightly thicker iPad. It was solid and metallic, with a soft matte black finish that looked like velvet. less than an inch thick, it weighed about a pound and half and had no visible ports or drives. On the back, in the lower right-hand corner was a sixteen digit code followed by "AKetchum". The same information the the back of his school card.

Searching for a way to start it, Ash found a indentation on the right side. He pressed it. Motors whirred, legs unfolded in back and raised the entire unit to an ideal viewing angle. The thing expanded in size by a third, the way Drasna's had, and powered on with a musical chord. The whole face sizzled to life, a screen, and in the middle words appeared: INSERT CARD

Ash inserted his card into a slot that had appeared along one side of the machine. It read the metallic strip then ejected his card. Words appeared on the screen: AUTHENTICATION, PLEASE. A pulsating poultice of a left hand appeared on the screen, fingers spread, just like it had on Drasna's. As he touched the screen, the outline locked to his hand. Subtle currents flowed beneath his skin, then with a flash of light the outline faded. A majestic major chord filled the room. the display dissolved to a greeting screen that featured the Center's crest floating on a shimmering dark blue field. Moments later, a row of conventional interface icons faded in along the bottom screen.

Words appeared: WOULD YOU LIKE OT BEGIN THE TUTORIAL NOW? (RECOMMENDED) YES/NO

Ash tapped NO. A mailbox icon appeared. He double-tapped the ice, and the screen opened to a graphically familiar inbox. There was one message inside: To AKetchum. From Lance. He double-tapped the message. A video file opened of Headmaster Lance, at the desk in his office, looking straight into the camera. The image quality was so good he appeared to be on the other side of a window.

"Greetings, Ash. I hope you're bouncing back from that hit on the head. Sorry I couldn't wait around, but the docs assured me you'd be okay. And I apologize for taking you in there in the first place. That one's on me. Hope you're getting settled. Let's catch up tomorrow. If there's anything we can do to make your first few days easier, all you have to do is ask. Have a good night". The mailbox came back up. Instead of using his finger as the cursor, Ash tried another way to interact with it. "Close mailbox" he said

The mailbox collapsed into the icon at the bottom of the screen. "Open hard drive"

A file cabinet open in the screen's center. A drawer opened into a list of folders and files from the hard drive he transferred the old one. He verified that the data he transferred landed safely.

A muffled buzzing sounded somewhere in the room. He traced it to the bed, under that mattress. His Xtransciever

"Power off" Ash said

His tablet shut down. Although he couldn't see one, Ash worried that there might be a video camera built into its frame. There was no way of knowing who had remote access to its feed, James, for instance. Ash dropped his hoodie over the screen for good measure.

Rule #27: JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE PARANOID DOESN'T MEAN THAT SORRY IS BETTER THEN SAFE

Ash pulled out his Xtransceiver and took it into the bathroom. He closed and locked the door, then turned on the faucet before he answered. "Hey, Brock"

"Hey, Ash" Brock said "I'm parked outside your house right now"

"I think your old man might be right. What's going down here is kind of freaky. three black cars are parked out front. Identical makes and models, like undercover vehicles. Cops were here earlier, too. Local cruisers"

"How long have you been there?"

"About and hour"

"Shouldn't you be working?"

"Nah, man, this is way more fun" Brock said "Plus I got this little telescope my wife bought me from Brookstone, puts you right up in somebody's face. I'm watching these guys form the sedans go in and out"

"Describe them" Ash said

"Black caps and jackets. Look like FBI except there's no logo on the caps or jackets. They're loading suitcases into the cars. Boxes, too. All taped up, the kind you use for moving"

"How many Black Caps?"

"Six. Two in each car," Brock said "And whoever these guys in the chapeaus are, they're in charge of whatever's going on: They were the ones giving orders"

"Have you seen anybody else?"

"There's a woman who came out a few times. Black hair, tallish, looks like she could be your mom"

"Couldn't be, she's up here with us"

"There's also one other guy, black hair blue eyes, tough looking. I saw him once through the window, he looked like he was arguing with one of the suits. I have a few pictures,but I didn't think I should send them until we had talked"

_So Dad is still there, but is he himself?_

"I got an email for you to use" Ash gave him the new email given to him by the school.

"Alright, I'm going to stay on this, they look like they're getting ready to leave" Brock said before hanging up. Ash leaned against the the wall and took a deep breath, running a hand through his wild hair.

He turned off the faucet and walked out of his room coming face-to-face with a tough looking kid with loose purple hair. He wore a crested blue school blazer and stood an inch or two shorter than Ash but radiated athleticism and ability. His dark, coal-black eyes bore into Ash's blue and brown ones.

"You the new kid?" he asked in a low tone, almost like a growl

"Yeah. You Paul?"

He nodded "You're the one that messed with James, right?"

I nodded

He gave me a hard look, scanning me over like a copy machine. He nodded once before saying "I guess you're alright", as if deciding what kind of topping he wants on his ice cream.

I glanced over at Cynthia who sat at the hearth dressed in a short athletic skirt, black cleats, high blue socks, and twirled a field hokey stick in her hands while looking curiously at us. "Let me tell you how it works in our pod, our high and mighty savior Cynthia is in charge of everything. That's about it"

I glanced at Cynthia with a raised eyebrow "Word of advice: Don't mess with Cynthia. She has this tendency to stare into your soul". Alarm bells rang in Ash's head, no ones soul held more secrets than his.

Cynthia sent her hockey stick at Paul's heels in a fast swing. He raised his foot and stepped the head, preventing any movement before sending a smirk at Cynthia who was struggling to wrench it from under his foot. "Oh, did I say that? No, what I _meant_ to say is that she's as harmless as a cheerleader with a Hello Kitty addiction" he said, stepping off her hockey stick.

Cynthia scowled at him and turned to Ash "Have you read the Code of Conduct yet?" she said, gesturing to a copy that lay on a shelf at the end of the couch

"No"

"Read it, or James will be on you like a Tyranitar"

Paul sank onto the sofa and rubbed his chin "She's probably right. I never did, but that's just because I wanted to piss off James" he said, closing his eyes

Cynthia rolled her eyes and started for the door, twirling her stick. She turned back to Ash to say emphatically "Read it. Did you get your tablet yet?"

I nodded again. "Good, if you're missing anything just tell me" she said before leaving the pod

"I'm going to finish unpacking" Ash said. Without opening his eyes, Paul flung the nearby copy of the Code across the room like a frisbee. It flew through the screen and right into the fireplace, where it began to smolder and burn. Paul crossed his arms with a satisfied smirk on his face before settling in for a nap.

Ash locked his bedroom door and lifted the sweatshirt off the tablet. the mailbox icon was blinking and had a question below it: WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD "Brock" TO YOUR OUTSIDE MAILING LIST?

"Yes. Open mail"

YOU MAY NOW SEND AND RECEIVE MAIL FORM THIS ADDRESS. The email from Brock opened. "As promised", three photographs downloaded on-screen, one after the other. Ash studied each as they came up. The first one showed three black cars parked out in front of the house. The second showed three men in black suits with a red "R" on the bicep loading boxes into the first car. The third showed Delia talking to one of them in front of the house. The man had taken his hat off, revealing spiky blonde hair.

A tone sounded form the computer. On-screen, a new message form Brock opened: They're on the move, I'm all over it.

There was knock on his door. "Close all files" Ash said. the tablet instantly returned to its greeting screen. Ash moved to the door. Little Clemont stood outside wearing his school blazer, poised and formal. "Ash, we've decided you're joining us for dinner" he said in a deep voice "I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter"

As it turns out, the school had four other restaurants aside from the soda fountain. There was a dining room the required a coat and tie where you'd take your parents out to, a grillroom by the field house for team meals, and the cafeteria which, in itself, is self explanatory. Then there was the fourth restaurant, where his roommates had decided to take Ash for his first dinner, the Rathstalker.

It was situated in the basement of Royster Hall, the oldest building on campus. The inside was surprisingly warm and intimate cellar space, divided by brick arches, with fireplaces at either end. The room was filled with long tables and dark hardwood benches, brass lanterns hung precariously from the ceiling with fake flickering candles casting shadows along each table.

The only menus were rectangular billboards fastened to wall above the fireplaces. Written in chalk were a variety of odd cuisines that even Ash hadn't heard of, and he had twenty-six books dedicated solely to listing foods and their ingredients.

The others ordered for Ash, who kept his mouth shut and watched his new roommates interact. Clemont directed the conversation, keeping the tone light and carefree, Paul tossed in crude and rather vulgar jokes, often criticizing and downright insulting people Ash had yet to meet, May hung back but never missed and opportunity to fire shots back at Paul. The two seemed to have a war going on, one that Ash wanted no part of. That left Cynthia to be the adult of the group, herding all the others back to polite social ground when lines were crossed and borders were broken. And with Paul in the group, that line was often crossed.

Their food arrived, served by two bright, cheerful ladies in uniforms similar to that of a maid. Much to Ash's surprise, the meal was fantastic. Platters filled with steak, pork, and sausage with a gigantic bowl of mashed potatoes that perfectly complimented the meat. A small side of potato salad was placed next to Ash, looking just as appetizing as the rest of the meal. To wash it all down were pitchers of cold, fizzy apple cider accompanied by frosted mugs.

Clemont however, seemed to avoid the meat. "Clemont, how are yo not eating this? it's delicious" I asked.

"Actually I'm trying to go on a diet, I don't exert myself all that often" he said sheepishly

"Oh that's right, I forgot you had ovaries" Paul said with a smirk

They all laughed at Clemont's expense who spat out his cider, resulting in another chorus of laughter. Cynthia smacked Paul on the arm, but had a good natured smile on her face.

"May I propose a round of toasts" Clemont said, lifting his mug "To our new companion: May the winds of fortune guide you. My you sail a gentle sea. And may it always be the other guy who says 'This drinks on me'" he said, causing of another bout of laughter. Then, May lifted her glass and said "Ash, may you have all the happiness and luck that life can hold. And at the end of all your rainbows, may you find a pot of gold"

Paul remained seated and kicked his feet up on the table, but still raised his glass "Health and long life to you, stay happy and well fed... and may you be half an hour in heaven before the devil knows you dead" he said, sending Ash a tiny, _tiny _smile.

It was Cynthia's turn, but she didn't stand or raise her glass or even look at Ash. She rubbed her index finger along the rim of her mug until it sent out an eerie, piercing note through the room. With the note hanging in the air, she shifted her eyes to meet his, with an intensity every bit as piercing as the note. "Never forget to remember" Cynthia said, hr voice barely above a whisper "The things that make you glad. And always remember to forget... the things that make you sad"

The happy mood at the table crashed

"For goodness' sake woman. Do you have to turn every happy occasion into a horror movie? Warn him about the body under the floorboards while you're at it" Clemont said

The other laughed, but Cynthia remained serious, her eyes searching me for something, something I was not prepared to give up so easily.

"Hello, Suicide Prevention Hotline, please hold" Clemont mimicked. Paul shot him a look: _Don't go there_. Clemont looked ready to protest, then gothis point and slapped himself on the head. No one would meet Ash's eye anymore .

"Okay, what;s this all about?" Ash asked

"What's what about?" Clemont said

"Clemont you an awful liar. Whatever you all just remembered that killed the mood.

"It has nothing to do with you" May said

"Perfect, then there's no harm in telling me" Ash said

"Obviously we'd rather not talk about it" May seemed to contemplate for a moment before stating matter-of-factly "We had a roommate last year. He's dead"

Rule #11: DON'T JUST REACT TO A SITUATION THAT TAKES YOU BY SURPRISE. _RESPOND_.

"At school?" he asked

"No, while we were all away over the summer"

"What happened to him?"

"That's the thing..." Paul said "Nobody knows"

"Get the check, Paul. We're out of here" Cynthia said.

She certainly had a way of ending conversations.

The walk back to the pod was significantly more subdues than the trip over. Once in their pod, they all entered their rooms without a word. Ash, however, thad some investigating to do. He walked up to one of the numerous bookshelves and took out last year's school yearbook. He flipped the pages tip he came upon a section that showed promise.

Each page had a picture of the members of each pod with their names scrolled along the bottom in chronological order. He found his target.

Ray "Red" Satoshi stood all the way to the right, hands tucked into his pockets, smiling at the camera. He had a face much like Ash's, but he wore a hat and had determined red eyes that had a glint of intelligence in them.

Ash closed the book, suddenly very tired and wary of his room. He entered it and couldn't help but wonder: _Did he leave anything behind?_

He walked over to his desk and nudged it, dislodging it to the right. The hardwood floor beneath the legs was slightly darkened. In other words, it was the same desk Red had used. With that happy thought in the back of his head, Ash got ready for bed and entered the, now, not so inviting covers.

* * *

><p>Ash woke to a blaring alarm resounding from his tablet and one hand clasped around his crucifix, allowing him to see the world of blue he was becoming familiar with. It sounded more like the warning to a mortar barrage than something to wake up to. None the less Ash got up from his bed and and tapped icon displaying, ending the alarm. A notification popped up on screen along with the time, temperature, and date with some text scrawled across: REMINDER- You have an appointment with Ms. Drasna at 9:00 a.m. at Saber Hall, the main administration building, room 241. Another icon appeared displaying: Would you like directions?<p>

Ash muttered "off" in the rough, gravely voice he always had when he woke up before walking to the shower, shedding what little he had on before he reached the bathroom door. The shower was refreshing, as expected, and did much to wake him up. After stepping out, smelling freshly of whatever the hell Old Spice 'FIJI' smelled like he did a quick check on his back.

The scars were still very much prominent, but the blood clot had disappeared and the more gruesome parts had faded already. A startlingly large amount of progress for wound he received barley two days ago. Sighing, he stepped out of the bathroom after toweling down and got dressed

Clemont was in the common room when Ash stepped out, and offered to join him for breakfast. Ash wasn't too sire what to expect when he entered the cafeteria. It was massive, teeming with teenagers who seemed more alert and energetic than any kids Ash had ever seen at school in the morning. And Ash had seen a lot of different kids at a lot of different schools.

They fell into two lines around massive buffet tables that offered a staggeringly large amount of diversity. The roommates loaded up their plates and sat at a corner table. Ash thought himself as a big eater, but for the second meal in a row, he watched Clemont inhale his food faster than a starved Snorlax.

"Look at this" Ash said, looking around the cafeteria "It must've cost a small fortune to go here"

"I'm told it's a large fortune, but I wouldn't know. I'm here on full scholarship" Clemont said, his mouth half full with food.

"You too, how'd they find you?"

At a test I took in school during the eight grade. Ms. Drasna showed up tow months later, and here I am"

"Anything specific about you interest them?"

"No, but that's because haven't told them about my photographic memory" he said, hushing his voice towards the end

"I call bull"

"I kid you not. I remember everything that has ever happened to me, aside form the first two years of my life. The brain discards those so even if I tried I wouldn't be able to remember, no one would" Clemont said

"Why would you keep this to yourself? And why are you telling me?"

"I'm afraid that if word got out, other students would pester me to help them study. Or cheat. Or the school would start examining me. This would take way too much time away from my inventions. And as to why I'm telling you, well... I trust you. Perhaps I'm paranoid, but I'd just as soon keep it to myself. "

"I know the feeling" Ash muttered

"Why? What brought them to your door?"

"The same test" Ash hesitated "I got an... unusually high score"

"So we have that in common as well" _Yeah, not quite_

Ash paused, debating whether he should ask his question or not "What was Red good at?"

"Everything" Clemont said. _Easier than I thought._ He excelled at everything, great grades, extremely nice, he was even designing a portable console game using equipment he kept hidden from James. But out of all that, he just had this way with Pokemon, like all of them seemed to be drawn to him, like he knew each one of them personally" Clemont said before glancing around, checking for anyone listening

He face fell though, when his eyes landed on one spot to the left. Ash followed his gaze till his eyes landed on May, sitting at another table on the other side of the room, sitting across form the arrogant kid he chased off the day before, Drew Larousse. May looked tense and extremely unhappy. _Drew is pressuring her, but with what, and why?_

"Ash" Clemont said, drawing his attention back to him "Call me an idiot but I have a good feeling about you. You're as solid as cobalt steel. I don't say this lightly to anyone, but I know I can trust you"

Ash raised an eyebrow. He appreciated the trust, but he was not used to people talking so openly with him. Especially not people he's known for hardly a day. he wanted to say "I trust you too", but before he could, a weird look crossed Clemont's face. Like a soldier following orders, he stood up quickly, picked up his tray, turned around, and ran straight into someone

James Lewis had walked up behind him without a sound. When Clemont hit him, his tray toppled and the remains of Clemont's breakfast scattered. A partially eaten waffle landed right on James's shoe, syrup oozing through the laces

"I'm so terribly sorry" Clemont said, turning ashen

"Yes, you are" James said calmly, without moving "Clean that up. Now"

"Of course, James, right away"

The room grew deathly quiet around them. Clemont fumbled with a fistful of napkins from the dispenser. James never took his eyes off Ash. Ash couldn't help but smile inwardly. _You want a fight? I'll give you a war  
><em>

"You don't have to do that Clemont" Ash said

"No, it's no trouble at all. My fault entirely"

Ash reached out and stayed Clemont's hand, his eyes never leaving James's "Don't"

"Please, Ash" Clemont whispered "It's better if I do"

Ash stood up as Clemont began to clean James's shoe. James looked at Ash and smiled pleasantly "You didn't leave him room to get up. That was your fault" Ash said

"Why don't you clean it up for him, then?" James said, his smile broadening

Kids all around turned to watch. Drew Larousse and a few bruisers drifted their way. Clemont looked up from James's shoe, silently pleading for him to not interfere. Ash picked up their table's maple syrup dispenser and stepped next to James. He lowered his voice and leaned in so only he could hear, and grabbed James's belt. "Question for you, James. Have yo ever sat through class with a pint of maple syrup down your pants.

The smile left James's face. Vivid red dots appeared on his cheeks

"No?" Ash asked "Want to try?"

Clemont paused over James's foot, unsure of what to do "Sell 'scary hall moniter' someplace else" Ash whispered "I'm not buying". James turned abruptly and staked away. The shoe with syrup squeaked with every step and made his odd splayed gait even more amusing. Drew Larousse and the other kids with him flocked around James.

"Mr. Lewis" Ash called out, and eerily calm expression on his face. James and his group turned to look at him "Test me, and you will fail"

"Is that a threat Mr. Ketchum?"

"No, if you try anything like that again, you'll be picking up your teeth with two broken arms. That was a threat, what I just made you, was a promise"

James's face turned red with anger and embarrassment as he stormed out of the cafeteria, posy in tow. "Put that down and follow me" Clemont said "Fast"

Ash followed him outside, where Clemont pulled Ash around the corner. They sprinted out of sight. Glancing back, they saw Drew Larousse and two others run out of the union looking for them.

Clemont pushed Ash against the side of the building, out of sight. "Sweet Arceus, amn, are you completley insane? You can't treat James like that"

"No, he can't treat you that way. I hate bullies, an next time he tries something like that, he'll be thinking twice before he does anything" Ash said "Why did you stand up so suddenly anyway?"

"I don't know" Clemont said, looking confused "I guess... I guess I thought it was time to go and... I don't know. Why?"

"Just curious"

"Well, my sincerest thanks for interceding. But next time, please, let's discuss these things in advance"

Ash smiled "No promises"

**Alright, I'm a god awful author, I know I said the next one was going to be late, but even I couldn't predict the amount of time it would take. I won't make excuses, because there are none. I can only apologize and hope you will forgive me for the long ass wait. I don;t know when I'll update next, but hopefully it won't be as long as this one. Thanks for reading, I hoped you enjoyed, comments, questions, requests, and hate are always welcome. Feel free to PM me about may concerns you have and I'll do my best to answer. Also, someone top the balance on the shipping. It's split down the middle and every time the scale tilts one way, it gets balanced out ****immediately. Till next time**

**-novaking2832**


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